[ { "title": "Mentana : First Anniversary", "author": "Algernon Charles Swinburne", "lines": [ "At the time when the stars are grey,", "And the gold of the molten moon", "Fades, and the twilight is thinned,", "And the sun leaps up, and the wind,", "A light rose, not of the day,", "A stronger light than of noon.", "", "As the light of a face much loved", "Was the face of the light that clomb;", "As a mother's whitened with woes", "Her adorable head that arose;", "As the sound of a God that is moved,", "Her voice went forth upon Rome.", "", "At her lips it fluttered and failed", "Twice, and sobbed into song,", "And sank as a flame sinks under;", "Then spake, and the speech was thunder,", "And the cheek as he heard it paled", "Of the wrongdoer grown grey with the wrong.", "", "\"Is it time, is it time appointed,", "Angel of time, is it near?", "For the spent night aches into day", "When the kings shall slay not or pray,", "And the high-priest, accursed and anointed,", "Sickens to deathward with fear.", "", "\"For the bones of my slain are stirred,", "And the seed of my earth in her womb", "Moves as the heart of a bud", "Beating with odorous blood", "To the tune of the loud first bird", "Burns and yearns into bloom.", "", "\"I lay my hand on her bosom,", "My hand on the heart of my earth,", "And I feel as with shiver and sob", "The triumphant heart in her throb,", "The dead petals dilate into blossom,", "The divine blood beat into birth.", "", "\"O my earth, are the springs in thee dry?", "O sweet, is thy body a tomb?", "Nay, springs out of springs derive,", "And summers from summers alive,", "And the living from them that die;", "No tomb is here, but a womb.", "", "\"O manifold womb and divine,", "Give me fruit of my children, give!", "I have given thee my dew for thy root,", "Give thou me for my mouth of thy fruit;", "Thine are the dead that are mine,", "And mine are thy sons that live.", "", "\"O goodly children, O strong", "Italian spirits, that wear", "My glories as garments about you,", "Could time or the world misdoubt you,", "Behold, in disproof of the wrong,", "The field of the grave-pits there.", "", "\"And ye that fell upon sleep,", "We have you too with us yet.", "Fairer than life or than youth", "Is this, to die for the truth:", "No death can sink you so deep", "As their graves whom their brethren forget.", "", "\"Were not your pains as my pains?", "As my name are your names not divine?", "Was not the light in your eyes", "Mine, the light of my skies,", "And the sweet shed blood of your veins,", "O my beautiful martyrs, mine?", "", "\"Of mine earth were your dear limbs made,", "Of mine air was your sweet life's breath;", "At the breasts of my love ye were fed,", "O my children, my chosen, my dead,", "At my breasts where again ye are laid,", "At the old mother's bosom, in death.", "", "\"But ye that live, O their brothers,", "Be ye to me as they were;", "Give me, my children that live,", "What these dead grudged not to give,", "Who alive were sons of your mother's,", "Whose lips drew breath of your air.", "", "\"Till darkness by dawn be cloven,", "Let youth's self mourn and abstain;", "And love's self find not an hour,", "And spring's self wear not a flower,", "And Lycoris, with hair unenwoven,", "Hail back to the banquet in vain.", "", "\"So sooner and surer the glory", "That is not with us shall be,", "And stronger the hands that smite", "The heads of the sons of night,", "And the sound throughout earth of our story", "Give all men heart to be free.\"" ], "linecount": "90" }, { "title": "Fragments", "author": "Alan Seeger", "lines": [ "In that fair capital where Pleasure, crowned", "Amidst her myriad courtiers, riots and rules,", "I too have been a suitor. Radiant eyes", "Were my life's warmth and sunshine, outspread arms", "My gilded deep horizons. I rejoiced", "In yielding to all amorous influence", "And multiple impulsion of the flesh,", "To feel within my being surge and sway", "The force that all the stars acknowledge too.", "Amid the nebulous humanity", "Where I an atom crawled and cleaved and sundered,", "I saw a million motions, but one law;", "And from the city's splendor to my eyes", "The vapors passed and there was nought but Love,", "A ferment turbulent, intensely fair,", "Where Beauty beckoned and where Strength pursued.", "", "II", "", "", "There was a time when I thought much of Fame,", "And laid the golden edifice to be", "That in the clear light of eternity", "Should fitly house the glory of my name.", "", "", "But swifter than my fingers pushed their plan,", "Over the fair foundation scarce begun,", "While I with lovers dallied in the sun,", "The ivy clambered and the rose-vine ran.", "", "", "And now, too late to see my vision, rise,", "In place of golden pinnacles and towers,", "Only some sunny mounds of leaves and flowers,", "Only beloved of birds and butterflies.", "", "", "My friends were duped, my favorers deceived;", "But sometimes, musing sorrowfully there,", "That flowered wreck has seemed to me so fair", "I scarce regret the temple unachieved.", "", "III", "", "", "For there were nights . . . my love to him whose brow", "Has glistened with the spoils of nights like those,", "Home turning as a conqueror turns home,", "What time green dawn down every street uprears", "Arches of triumph! He has drained as well", "Joy's perfumed bowl and cried as I have cried:", "Be Fame their mistress whom Love passes by.", "This only matters: from some flowery bed,", "Laden with sweetness like a homing bee,", "If one have known what bliss it is to come,", "Bearing on hands and breast and laughing lips", "The fragrance of his youth's dear rose. To him", "The hills have bared their treasure, the far clouds", "Unveiled the vision that o'er summer seas", "Drew on his thirsting arms. This last thing known,", "He can court danger, laugh at perilous odds,", "And, pillowed on a memory so sweet,", "Unto oblivious eternity", "Without regret yield his victorious soul,", "The blessed pilgrim of a vow fulfilled.", "", "IV", "", "", "What is Success? Out of the endless ore", "Of deep desire to coin the utmost gold", "Of passionate memory; to have lived so well", "That the fifth moon, when it swims up once more", "Through orchard boughs where mating orioles build", "And apple flowers unfold,", "Find not of that dear need that all things tell", "The heart unburdened nor the arms unfilled.", "", "", "O Love, whereof my boyhood was the dream,", "My youth the beautiful novitiate,", "Life was so slight a thing and thou so great,", "How could I make thee less than all-supreme!", "In thy sweet transports not alone I thought", "Mingled the twain that panted breast to breast.", "The sun and stars throbbed with them; they were caught", "Into the pulse of Nature and possessed", "By the same light that consecrates it so.", "Love! -- 'tis the payment of the debt we owe", "The beauty of the world, and whensoe'er", "In silks and perfume and unloosened hair", "The loveliness of lovers, face to face,", "Lies folded in the adorable embrace,", "Doubt not as of a perfect sacrifice", "That soul partakes whose inspiration fills", "The springtime and the depth of summer skies,", "The rainbow and the clouds behind the hills,", "That excellence in earth and air and sea", "That makes things as they are the real divinity." ], "linecount": "83" }, { "title": "Ballade of an Omnibus", "author": "Amy Levy", "lines": [ "\"To see my love suffices me.\"", "--Ballades in Blue China.", "", "", "Some men to carriages aspire;", "On some the costly hansoms wait;", "Some seek a fly, on job or hire;", "Some mount the trotting steed, elate.", "I envy not the rich and great,", "A wandering minstrel, poor and free,", "I am contented with my fate --", "An omnibus suffices me.", "", "In winter days of rain and mire", "I find within a corner strait;", "The 'busmen know me and my lyre", "From Brompton to the Bull-and-Gate.", "When summer comes, I mount in state", "The topmost summit, whence I see", "Crœsus look up, compassionate --", "An omnibus suffices me.", "", "I mark, untroubled by desire,", "Lucullus' phaeton and its freight.", "The scene whereof I cannot tire,", "The human tale of love and hate,", "The city pageant, early and late", "Unfolds itself, rolls by, to be", "A pleasure deep and delicate.", "An omnibus suffices me.", "", "Princess, your splendour you require,", "I, my simplicity; agree", "Neither to rate lower nor higher.", "An omnibus suffices me." ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "Siena", "author": "Algernon Charles Swinburne", "lines": [ "Inside this northern summer's fold", "The fields are full of naked gold,", "Broadcast from heaven on lands it loves;", "The green veiled air is full of doves;", "Soft leaves that sift the sunbeams let", "Light on the small warm grasses wet", "Fall in short broken kisses sweet,", "And break again like waves that beat", "Round the sun's feet.", "", "But I, for all this English mirth", "Of golden-shod and dancing days,", "And the old green-girt sweet-hearted earth,", "Desire what here no spells can raise.", "Far hence, with holier heavens above,", "The lovely city of my love", "Bathes deep in the sun-satiate air", "That flows round no fair thing more fair", "Her beauty bare.", "", "There the utter sky is holier, there", "More pure the intense white height of air,", "More clear men's eyes that mine would meet,", "And the sweet springs of things more sweet.", "There for this one warm note of doves", "A clamour of a thousand loves", "Storms the night's ear, the day's assails,", "From the tempestuous nightingales,", "And fills, and fails.", "", "O gracious city well-beloved,", "Italian, and a maiden crowned,", "Siena, my feet are no more moved", "Toward thy strange-shapen mountain-bound:", "But my heart in me turns and moves,", "O lady loveliest of my loves,", "Toward thee, to lie before thy feet", "And gaze from thy fair fountain-seat", "Up the sheer street;", "", "And the house midway hanging see", "That saw Saint Catherine bodily,", "Felt on its floors her sweet feet move,", "And the live light of fiery love", "Burn from her beautiful strange face,", "As in the sanguine sacred place", "Where in pure hands she took the head", "Severed, and with pure lips still red", "Kissed the lips dead.", "", "For years through, sweetest of the saints,", "In quiet without cease she wrought,", "Till cries of men and fierce complaints", "From outward moved her maiden thought;", "And prayers she heard and sighs toward France,", "\"God, send us back deliverance,", "Send back thy servant, lest we die!\"", "With an exceeding bitter cry", "They smote the sky.", "", "Then in her sacred saving hands", "She took the sorrows of the lands,", "With maiden palms she lifted up", "The sick time's blood-embittered cup,", "And in her virgin garment furled", "The faint limbs of a wounded world.", "Clothed with calm love and clear desire,", "She went forth in her soul's attire,", "A missive fire.", "", "Across the might of men that strove", "It shone, and over heads of kings;", "And molten in red flames of love", "Were swords and many monstrous things;", "And shields were lowered, and snapt were spears,", "And sweeter-tuned the clamorous years;", "And faith came back, and peace, that were", "Fled; for she bade, saying, \"Thou, God's heir,", "Hast thou no care?", "", "\"Lo, men lay waste thine heritage", "Still, and much heathen people rage", "Against thee, and devise vain things.", "What comfort in the face of kings,", "What counsel is there? Turn thine eyes", "And thine heart from them in like wise;", "Turn thee unto thine holy place", "To help us that of God for grace", "Require thy face.", "", "\"For who shall hear us if not thou", "In a strange land? what doest thou there?", "Thy sheep are spoiled, and the ploughers plough", "Upon us; why hast thou no care", "For all this, and beyond strange hills", "Liest unregardful what snow chills", "Thy foldless flock, or what rains beat?", "Lo, in thine ears, before thy feet,", "Thy lost sheep bleat.", "", "\"And strange men feed on faultless lives,", "And there is blood, and men put knives,", "Shepherd, unto the young lamb's throat;", "And one hath eaten, and one smote,", "And one had hunger and is fed", "Full of the flesh of these, and red", "With blood of these as who drinks wine", "And God knoweth, who hath sent thee a sign,", "If these were thine.\"", "", "But the Pope's heart within him burned,", "So that he rose up, seeing the sign,", "And came among them; but she turned", "Back to her daily way divine,", "And fed her faith with silent things,", "And lived her life with curbed white wings,", "And mixed herself with heaven and died:", "And now on the sheer city-side", "Smiles like a bride.", "", "You see her in the fresh clear gloom,", "Where walls shut out the flame and bloom", "Of full-breathed summer, and the roof", "Keeps the keen ardent air aloof", "And sweet weight of the violent sky:", "There bodily beheld on high,", "She seems as one hearing in tune", "Heaven within heaven, at heaven's full noon,", "In sacred swoon:", "", "A solemn swoon of sense that aches", "With imminent blind heat of heaven,", "While all the wide-eyed spirit wakes,", "Vigilant of the supreme Seven,", "Whose choral flames in God's sight move,", "Made unendurable with love,", "That without wind or blast of breath", "Compels all things through life and death", "Whither God saith.", "", "There on the dim side-chapel wall", "Thy mighty touch memorial,", "Razzi, raised up, for ages dead,", "And fixed for us her heavenly head:", "And, rent with plaited thorn and rod,", "Bared the live likeness of her God", "To men's eyes turning from strange lands,", "Where, pale from thine immortal hands,", "Christ wounded stands;", "", "And the blood blots his holy hair", "And white brows over hungering eyes", "That plead against us, and the fair", "Mute lips forlorn of words or sighs", "In the great torment that bends down", "His bruised head with the bloomless crown,", "White as the unfruitful thorn-flower,", "A God beheld in dreams that were", "Beheld of her.", "", "In vain on all these sins and years", "Falls the sad blood, fall the slow tears;", "In vain poured forth as watersprings,", "Priests, on your altars, and ye, kings,", "About your seats of sanguine gold;", "Still your God, spat upon and sold,", "Bleeds at your hands; but now is gone", "All his flock from him saving one;", "Judas alone.", "", "Surely your race it was that he,", "O men signed backward with his name,", "Beholding in Gethsemane", "Bled the red bitter sweat of shame,", "Knowing how the word of Christian should", "Mean to men evil and not good,", "Seem to men shameful for your sake,", "Whose lips, for all the prayers they make,", "Man's blood must slake.", "", "But blood nor tears ye love not, you", "That my love leads my longing to,", "Fair as the world's old faith of flowers,", "O golden goddesses of ours!", "From what Idalian rose-pleasance", "Hath Aphrodite bidden glance", "The lovelier lightnings of your feet?", "From what sweet Paphian sward or seat", "Led you more sweet?", "", "O white three sisters, three as one,", "With flowerlike arms for flowery bands", "Your linked limbs glitter like the sun,", "And time lies beaten at your hands.", "Time and wild years and wars and men", "Pass, and ye care not whence or when;", "With calm lips over sweet for scorn,", "Ye watch night pass, O children born", "Of the old-world morn.", "", "Ah, in this strange and shrineless place,", "What doth a goddess, what a Grace,", "Where no Greek worships her shrined limbs", "With wreaths and Cytherean hymns?", "Where no lute makes luxurious", "The adoring airs in Amathus,", "Till the maid, knowing her mother near,", "Sobs with love, aching with sweet fear?", "What do ye here?", "", "For the outer land is sad, and wears", "A raiment of a flaming fire;", "And the fierce fruitless mountain stairs", "Climb, yet seem wroth and loth to aspire,", "Climb, and break, and are broken down,", "And through their clefts and crests the town", "Looks west and sees the dead sun lie,", "In sanguine death that stains the sky", "With angry dye.", "", "And from the war-worn wastes without", "In twilight, in the time of doubt,", "One sound comes of one whisper, where", "Moved with low motions of slow air", "The great trees nigh the castle swing", "In the sad coloured evening;", "\"Ricorditi di me, che son", "La Pia\"--that small sweet word alone", "Is not yet gone.", "", "\"Ricorditi di me\"--the sound", "Sole out of deep dumb days remote", "Across the fiery and fatal ground", "Comes tender as a hurt bird's note", "To where, a ghost with empty hands,", "A woe-worn ghost, her palace stands", "In the mid city, where the strong", "Bells turn the sunset air to song,", "And the towers throng.", "", "With other face, with speech the same,", "A mightier maiden's likeness came", "Late among mourning men that slept,", "A sacred ghost that went and wept,", "White as the passion-wounded Lamb,", "Saying, \"Ah, remember me, that am", "Italia.\" (From deep sea to sea", "Earth heard, earth knew her, that this was she.)", "\"Ricorditi.", "", "\"Love made me of all things fairest thing,", "And Hate unmade me; this knows he", "Who with God's sacerdotal ring", "Enringed mine hand, espousing me.\"", "Yea, in thy myriad-mooded woe,", "Yea, Mother, hast thou not said so?", "Have not our hearts within us stirred,", "O thou most holiest, at thy word?", "Have we not heard?", "", "As this dead tragic land that she", "Found deadly, such was time to thee;", "Years passed thee withering in the red", "Maremma, years that deemed thee dead,", "Ages that sorrowed or that scorned;", "And all this while though all they mourned", "Thou sawest the end of things unclean,", "And the unborn that should see thee a queen.", "Have we not seen?", "", "The weary poet, thy sad son,", "Upon thy soil, under thy skies,", "Saw all Italian things save one -", "Italia; this thing missed his eyes;", "The old mother-might, the breast, the face,", "That reared, that lit the Roman race;", "This not Leopardi saw; but we,", "What is it, Mother, that we see,", "What if not thee?", "", "Look thou from Siena southward home,", "Where the priest's pall hangs rent on Rome,", "And through the red rent swaddling-bands", "Towards thine she strains her labouring hands.", "Look thou and listen, and let be", "All the dead quick, all the bond free;", "In the blind eyes let there be sight;", "In the eighteen centuries of the night", "Let there be light.", "", "Bow down the beauty of thine head,", "Sweet, and with lips of living breath", "Kiss thy sons sleeping and thy dead,", "That there be no more sleep or death.", "Give us thy light, thy might, thy love,", "Whom thy face seen afar above", "Drew to thy feet; and when, being free,", "Thou hast blest thy children born to thee,", "Bless also me.", "", "Me that when others played or slept", "Sat still under thy cross and wept;", "Me who so early and unaware", "Felt fall on bent bared brows and hair", "(Thin drops of the overflowing flood!)", "The bitter blessing of thy blood;", "The sacred shadow of thy pain,", "Thine, the true maiden-mother, slain", "And raised again.", "", "Me consecrated, if I might,", "To praise thee, or to love at least,", "O mother of all men's dear delight,", "Thou madest a choral-souled boy-priest,", "Before my lips had leave to sing,", "Or my hands hardly strength to cling", "About the intolerable tree", "Whereto they had nailed my heart and thee", "And said, \"Let be.\"", "", "For to thee too the high Fates gave", "Grace to be sacrificed and save,", "That being arisen, in the equal sun,", "God and the People should be one;", "By those red roads thy footprints trod,", "Man more divine, more human God,", "Saviour; that where no light was known", "But darkness, and a daytime flown,", "Light should be shown.", "", "Let there be light, O Italy!", "For our feet falter in the night.", "O lamp of living years to be,", "O light of God, let there be light!", "Fill with a love keener than flame", "Men sealed in spirit with thy name,", "The cities and the Roman skies,", "Where men with other than man's eyes", "Saw thy sun rise.", "", "For theirs thou wast and thine were they", "Whose names outshine thy very day;", "For they are thine and theirs thou art", "Whose blood beats living in man's heart,", "Remembering ages fled and dead", "Wherein for thy sake these men bled;", "They that saw Trebia, they that see", "Mentana, they in years to be", "That shall see thee.", "", "For thine are all of us, and ours", "Thou; till the seasons bring to birth", "A perfect people, and all the powers", "Be with them that bear fruit on earth;", "Till the inner heart of man be one", "With freedom, and the sovereign sun;", "And Time, in likeness of a guide,", "Lead the Republic as a bride", "Up to God's side." ], "linecount": "324" }, { "title": "A Prayer", "author": "Anne Bronte", "lines": [ "My God (oh, let me call Thee mine,", "Weak, wretched sinner though I be),", "My trembling soul would fain be Thine;", "My feeble faith still clings to Thee.", "", "Not only for the Past I grieve,", "The Future fills me with dismay;", "Unless Thou hasten to relieve,", "Thy suppliant is a castaway.", "", "I cannot say my faith is strong,", "I dare not hope my love is great;", "But strength and love to Thee belong;", "Oh, do not leave me desolate!", "", "I know I owe my all to Thee;", "Oh, TAKE the heart I cannot give!", "Do Thou my strength--my Saviour be,", "And MAKE me to Thy glory live." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "The Doubter's Prayer", "author": "Anne Bronte", "lines": [ "Eternal Power, of earth and air!", "Unseen, yet seen in all around,", "Remote, but dwelling everywhere,", "Though silent, heard in every sound.", "If e'er thine ear in mercy bent,", "When wretched mortals cried to Thee,", "And if, indeed, Thy Son was sent,", "To save lost sinners such as me:", "", "Then hear me now, while, kneeling here,", "I lift to thee my heart and eye,", "And all my soul ascends in prayer,", "Oh, give me -­ give me Faith! I cry.", "", "Without some glimmering in my heart,", "I could not raise this fervent prayer;", "But, oh! a stronger light impart,", "And in Thy mercy fix it there.", "", "While Faith is with me, I am blest;", "It turns my darkest night to day;", "But while I clasp it to my breast,", "I often feel it slide away.", "", "Then, cold and dark, my spirit sinks,", "To see my light of life depart;", "And every fiend of Hell, methinks,", "Enjoys the anguish of my heart.", "", "What shall I do, if all my love,", "My hopes, my toil, are cast away,", "And if there be no God above,", "To hear and bless me when I pray?", "", "If this be vain delusion all,", "If death be an eternal sleep,", "And none can hear my secret call,", "Or see the silent tears I weep!", "", "Oh, help me, God! For thou alone", "Canst my distracted soul relieve;", "Forsake it not: it is thine own,", "Though weak, yet longing to believe.", "", "Oh, drive these cruel doubts away;", "And make me know, that Thou art God!", "A faith, that shines by night and day,", "Will lighten every earthly load.", "", "If I believe that Jesus died,", "And, waking, rose to reign above;", "Then surely Sorrow, Sin, and Pride,", "Must yield to Peace, and Hope, and Love.", "", "And all the blessed words He said", "Will strength and holy joy impart:", "A shield of safety o'er my head,", "A spring of comfort in my heart." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "For a Naughty Little Girl", "author": "Ann Taylor", "lines": [ "My sweet little girl should be cheerful and mild", "She must not be fretful and cry!", "Oh! why is this passion? remember, my child,", "GOD sees you, who lives in the sky.", "", "That dear little face, that I like so to kiss,", "How alter'd and sad it appears!", "Do you think I can love you so naughty as this,", "Or kiss you, all wetted with tears?", "", "Remember, though GOD is in Heaven, my love,", "He sees you within and without,", "And always looks down, from His glory above,", "To notice what you are about.", "", "If I am not with you, or if it be dark,", "And nobody is in the way,", "His eye is as able your doings to mark,", "In the night as it is in the day.", "", "Then dry up your tears and look smiling again,", "And never do things that are wrong;", "For I'm sure you must feel it a terrible pain,", "To be naughty and crying so long.", "", "We'll pray, then, that GOD may your passion forgive,", "And teach you from evil to fly;", "And then you'll be happy as long as you live,", "And happy whenever you die." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "The Teacher's Monologue", "author": "Charlotte Bronte", "lines": [ "The room is quiet, thoughts alone", "People its mute tranquillity;", "The yoke put on, the long task done,­", "I am, as it is bliss to be,", "Still and untroubled. Now, I see,", "For the first time, how soft the day", "O'er waveless water, stirless tree,", "Silent and sunny, wings its way.", "Now, as I watch that distant hill,", "So faint, so blue, so far removed,", "Sweet dreams of home my heart may fill,", "That home where I am known and loved:", "It lies beyond; yon azure brow", "Parts me from all Earth holds for me;", "And, morn and eve, my yearnings flow", "Thitherward tending, changelessly.", "My happiest hours, aye ! all the time,", "I love to keep in memory,", "Lapsed among moors, ere life's first prime", "Decayed to dark anxiety.", "", "Sometimes, I think a narrow heart", "Makes me thus mourn those far away,", "And keeps my love so far apart", "From friends and friendships of to-day;", "Sometimes, I think 'tis but a dream", "I measure up so jealously,", "All the sweet thoughts I live on seem", "To vanish into vacancy:", "And then, this strange, coarse world around", "Seems all that's palpable and true;", "And every sight, and every sound,", "Combines my spirit to subdue", "To aching grief, so void and lone", "Is Life and Earth­so worse than vain,", "The hopes that, in my own heart sown,", "And cherished by such sun and rain", "As Joy and transient Sorrow shed,", "Have ripened to a harvest there:", "Alas ! methinks I hear it said,", "\"Thy golden sheaves are empty air.\"", "All fades away; my very home", "I think will soon be desolate;", "I hear, at times, a warning come", "Of bitter partings at its gate;", "And, if I should return and see", "The hearth-fire quenched, the vacant chair;", "And hear it whispered mournfully,", "That farewells have been spoken there,", "What shall I do, and whither turn ?", "Where look for peace ? When cease to mourn ?", "", "'Tis not the air I wished to play,", "The strain I wished to sing;", "My wilful spirit slipped away", "And struck another string.", "I neither wanted smile nor tear,", "Bright joy nor bitter woe,", "But just a song that sweet and clear,", "Though haply sad, might flow.", "", "A quiet song, to solace me", "When sleep refused to come;", "A strain to chase despondency,", "When sorrowful for home.", "In vain I try; I cannot sing;", "All feels so cold and dead;", "No wild distress, no gushing spring", "Of tears in anguish shed;", "", "But all the impatient gloom of one", "Who waits a distant day,", "When, some great task of suffering done,", "Repose shall toil repay.", "For youth departs, and pleasure flies,", "And life consumes away,", "And youth's rejoicing ardour dies", "Beneath this drear delay;", "", "And Patience, weary with her yoke,", "Is yielding to despair,", "And Health's elastic spring is broke", "Beneath the strain of care.", "Life will be gone ere I have lived;", "Where now is Life's first prime ?", "I've worked and studied, longed and grieved,", "Through all that rosy time.", "", "To toil, to think, to long, to grieve,­", "Is such my future fate ?", "The morn was dreary, must the eve", "Be also desolate ?", "Well, such a life at least makes Death", "A welcome, wished-for friend;", "Then, aid me, Reason, Patience, Faith,", "To suffer to the end !" ], "linecount": "90" }, { "title": "A Birthday", "author": "Christina Rossetti", "lines": [ "My heart is like a singing bird", "Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;", "My heart is like an apple-tree", "Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;", "My heart is like a rainbow shell", "That paddles in a halcyon sea;", "My heart is gladder than all these", "Because my love is come to me.", "", "Raise me a dais of silk and down;", "Hang it with vair and purple dyes;", "Carve it in doves and pomegranates,", "And peacocks with a hundred eyes;", "Work it in gold and silver grapes,", "In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;", "Because the birthday of my life", "Is come, my love is come to me." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", "author": "Christopher Marlowe", "lines": [ "Come live with me, and be my love,", "And we will all the pleasures prove,", "That hills and valleys, dales and fields,", "And all the craggy mountain yields.", "", "There we will sit upon the rocks,", "And see the shepherds feed their flocks", "By shallow rivers, to whose falls", "Melodious birds sing madrigals.", "", "And I will make thee beds of roses,", "With a thousand fragrant posies,", "A cap of flowers and a kirtle", "Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;", "", "A gown made of the finest wool,", "Which from our pretty lambs we pull;", "Fair lined slippers for the cold,", "With buckles of the purest gold;", "", "A belt of straw and ivy buds,", "With coral clasps and amber studs;", "And if these pleasures may thee move,", "Come live with me, and be my love.", "", "The shepherd swains shall dance and sing", "For thy delight each May morning:", "If these delights thy mind may move,", "Then live with me, and be my love." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Monna Innominata: A Sonnet of Sonnets", "author": "Christina Rossetti", "lines": [ "1", "", "Lo dм che han detto a' dolci amici addio. - Dante", "Amor, con quanto sforzo oggi mi vinci! - Petrarca", "", "Come back to me, who wait and watch for you:--", "Or come not yet, for it is over then,", "And long it is before you come again,", "So far between my pleasures are and few.", "While, when you come not, what I do I do", "Thinking \"Now when he comes,\" my sweetest when:\"", "For one man is my world of all the men", "This wide world holds; O love, my world is you.", "Howbeit, to meet you grows almost a pang", "Because the pang of parting comes so soon;", "My hope hangs waning, waxing, like a moon", "Between the heavenly days on which we meet:", "Ah me, but where are now the songs I sang", "When life was sweet because you call'd them sweet?", "", "2", "", "Era giа 1'ora che volge il desio. - Dante", "Ricorro al tempo ch' io vi vidi prima. - Petrarca", "", "I wish I could remember that first day,", "First hour, first moment of your meeting me,", "If bright or dim the season, it might be", "Summer or winter for aught I can say;", "So unrecorded did it slip away,", "So blind was I to see and to foresee,", "So dull to mark the budding of my tree", "That would not blossom yet for many a May.", "If only I could recollect it, such", "A day of days! I let it come and go", "As traceless as a thaw of bygone snow;", "It seem'd to mean so little, meant so much;", "If only now I could recall that touch,", "First touch of hand in hand--Did one but know!", "", "", "3", "", "O ombre vane, fuor che ne l'aspetto! - Dante", "Immaginata guida la conduce. - Petrarca", "", "I dream of you to wake: would that I might", "Dream of you and not wake but slumber on;", "Nor find with dreams the dear companion gone,", "As summer ended summer birds take flight.", "In happy dreams I hold you full in sight,", "I blush again who waking look so wan;", "Brighter than sunniest day that ever shone,", "In happy dreams your smile makes day of night.", "Thus only in a dream we are at one,", "Thus only in a dream we give and take", "The faith that maketh rich who take or give;", "If thus to sleep is sweeter than to wake,", "To die were surely sweeter than to live,", "Though there be nothing new beneath the sun.", "", "", "4", "", "Poca favilla gran fliamma seconda. - Dante", "Ogni altra cosa, ogni pensier va fore,", "E sol ivi con voi rimansi amore. - Petrarca", "", "I lov'd you first: but afterwards your love", "Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song", "As drown'd the friendly cooings of my dove.", "Which owes the other most? my love was long,", "And yours one moment seem'd to wax more strong;", "I lov'd and guess'd at you, you construed me--", "And lov'd me for what might or might not be", "Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.", "For verily love knows not \"mine\" or \"thine;\"", "With separate \"I\" and \"thou\" free love has done,", "For one is both and both are one in love:", "Rich love knows nought of \"thine that is not mine;\"", "Both have the strength and both the length thereof,", "Both of us, of the love which makes us one.", "", "", "5", "", "Amor che a nullo amato amar perdona. - Dante", "Amor m'addusse in sм gioiosa spene. - Petrarca", "", "O my heart's heart, and you who are to me", "More than myself myself, God be with you,", "Keep you in strong obedience leal and true", "To Him whose noble service setteth free,", "Give you all good we see or can foresee,", "Make your joys many and your sorrows few,", "Bless you in what you bear and what you do,", "Yea, perfect you as He would have you be.", "So much for you; but what for me, dear friend?", "To love you without stint and all I can", "Today, tomorrow, world without an end;", "To love you much and yet to love you more,", "As Jordan at his flood sweeps either shore;", "Since woman is the helpmeet made for man.", "", "", "6", "", "Or puoi la quantitate", "Comprender de l'amor che a te mi scalda. - Dante", "Non vo' che da tal nodo mi scioglia. - Petrarca", "", "Trust me, I have not earn'd your dear rebuke,", "I love, as you would have me, God the most;", "Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost,", "Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look", "Unready to forego what I forsook;", "This say I, having counted up the cost,", "This, though I be the feeblest of God's host,", "The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook.", "Yet while I love my God the most, I deem", "That I can never love you overmuch;", "I love Him more, so let me love you too;", "Yea, as I apprehend it, love is such", "I cannot love you if I love not Him,", "I cannot love Him if I love not you.", "", "", "7", "", "Qui primavera sempre ed ogni frutto. - Dante", "Ragionando con meco ed io con lui. - Petrarca", "", "\"Love me, for I love you\"--and answer me,", "\"Love me, for I love you\"--so shall we stand", "As happy equals in the flowering land", "Of love, that knows not a dividing sea.", "Love builds the house on rock and not on sand,", "Love laughs what while the winds rave desperately;", "And who hath found love's citadel unmann'd?", "And who hath held in bonds love's liberty?", "My heart's a coward though my words are brave", "We meet so seldom, yet we surely part", "So often; there's a problem for your art!", "Still I find comfort in his Book, who saith,", "Though jealousy be cruel as the grave,", "And death be strong, yet love is strong as death.", "", "", "8", "", "Come dicesse a Dio: D'altro non calme. - Dante", "Spero trovar pietа non che perdono. - Petrarca", "", "\"I, if I perish, perish\"--Esther spake:", "And bride of life or death she made her fair", "In all the lustre of her perfum'd hair", "And smiles that kindle longing but to slake.", "She put on pomp of loveliness, to take", "Her husband through his eyes at unaware;", "She spread abroad her beauty for a snare,", "Harmless as doves and subtle as a snake.", "She trapp'd him with one mesh of silken hair,", "She vanquish'd him by wisdom of her wit,", "And built her people's house that it should stand:--", "If I might take my life so in my hand,", "And for my love to Love put up my prayer,", "And for love's sake by Love be granted it!", "", "", "9", "", "O dignitosa coscienza e netta! - Dante", "Spirto piщ acceso di virtuti ardenti. - Petrarca", "", "Thinking of you, and all that was, and all", "That might have been and now can never be,", "I feel your honour'd excellence, and see", "Myself unworthy of the happier call:", "For woe is me who walk so apt to fall,", "So apt to shrink afraid, so apt to flee,", "Apt to lie down and die (ah, woe is me!)", "Faithless and hopeless turning to the wall.", "And yet not hopeless quite nor faithless quite,", "Because not loveless; love may toil all night,", "But take at morning; wrestle till the break", "Of day, but then wield power with God and man:--", "So take I heart of grace as best I can,", "Ready to spend and be spent for your sake.", "", "", "10", "", "Con miglior corso e con migliore stella. - Dante", "La vita fugge e non s'arresta un' ora. - Petrarca", "", "Time flies, hope flags, life plies a wearied wing;", "Death following hard on life gains ground apace;", "Faith runs with each and rears an eager face,", "Outruns the rest, makes light of everything,", "Spurns earth, and still finds breath to pray and sing;", "While love ahead of all uplifts his praise,", "Still asks for grace and still gives thanks for grace,", "Content with all day brings and night will bring.", "Life wanes; and when love folds his wings above", "Tired hope, and less we feel his conscious pulse,", "Let us go fall asleep, dear friend, in peace:", "A little while, and age and sorrow cease;", "A little while, and life reborn annuls", "Loss and decay and death, and all is love.", "", "", "11", "", "Vien dietro a me e lascia dir le genti. - Dante", "Contando i casi della vita nostra. - Petrarca", "", "Many in aftertimes will say of you", "\"He lov'd her\"--while of me what will they say?", "Not that I lov'd you more than just in play,", "For fashion's sake as idle women do.", "Even let them prate; who know not what we knew", "Of love and parting in exceeding pain,", "Of parting hopeless here to meet again,", "Hopeless on earth, and heaven is out of view.", "But by my heart of love laid bare to you,", "My love that you can make not void nor vain,", "Love that foregoes you but to claim anew", "Beyond this passage of the gate of death,", "I charge you at the Judgment make it plain", "My love of you was life and not a breath.", "", "", "12", "", "Amor, che ne la mente mi ragiona. - Dante", "Amor vien nel bel viso di costei. - Petrarca", "", "If there be any one can take my place", "And make you happy whom I grieve to grieve,", "Think not that I can grudge it, but believe", "I do commend you to that nobler grace,", "That readier wit than mine, that sweeter face;", "Yea, since your riches make me rich, conceive", "I too am crown'd, while bridal crowns I weave,", "And thread the bridal dance with jocund pace.", "For if I did not love you, it might be", "That I should grudge you some one dear delight;", "But since the heart is yours that was mine own,", "Your pleasure is my pleasure, right my right,", "Your honourable freedom makes me free,", "And you companion'd I am not alone.", "", "", "13", "", "E drizzeremo gli occhi al Primo Amore. - Dante", "Ma trovo peso non da le mie braccia. - Petrarca", "", "If I could trust mine own self with your fate,", "Shall I not rather trust it in God's hand?", "Without Whose Will one lily doth not stand,", "Nor sparrow fall at his appointed date;", "Who numbereth the innumerable sand,", "Who weighs the wind and water with a weight,", "To Whom the world is neither small nor great,", "Whose knowledge foreknew every plan we plann'd.", "Searching my heart for all that touches you,", "I find there only love and love's goodwill", "Helpless to help and impotent to do,", "Of understanding dull, of sight most dim;", "And therefore I commend you back to Him", "Whose love your love's capacity can fill.", "", "", "14", "", "E la Sua Volontade и nostra pace. - Dante", "Sol con questi pensier, con altre chiome. - Petrarca", "", "Youth gone, and beauty gone if ever there", "Dwelt beauty in so poor a face as this;", "Youth gone and beauty, what remains of bliss?", "I will not bind fresh roses in my hair,", "To shame a cheek at best but little fair,--", "Leave youth his roses, who can bear a thorn,--", "I will not seek for blossoms anywhere,", "Except such common flowers as blow with corn.", "Youth gone and beauty gone, what doth remain?", "The longing of a heart pent up forlorn,", "A silent heart whose silence loves and longs;", "The silence of a heart which sang its songs", "While youth and beauty made a summer morn,", "Silence of love that cannot sing again." ], "linecount": "240" }, { "title": "Epithalamion", "author": "Edmund Spenser", "lines": [ "YE learned sisters, which have oftentimes", "Beene to me ayding, others to adorne,", "Whom ye thought worthy of your gracefull rymes,", "That even the greatest did not greatly scorne", "To heare theyr names sung in your simple layes,", "But joyed in theyr praise;", "And when ye list your owne mishaps to mourne,", "Which death, or love, or fortunes wreck did rayse,", "Your string could soone to sadder tenor turne,", "And teach the woods and waters to lament", "Your dolefull dreriment:", "Now lay those sorrowfull complaints aside;", "And, having all your heads with girlands crownd,", "Helpe me mine owne loves prayses to resound;", "Ne let the same of any be envide:", "So Orpheus did for his owne bride!", "So I unto my selfe alone will sing;", "The woods shall to me answer, and my Eccho ring.", "", "Early, before the worlds light-giving lampe", "His golden beame upon the hils doth spred,", "Having disperst the nights unchearefull dampe,", "Doe ye awake; and, with fresh lusty-hed,", "Go to the bowre of my beloved love,", "My truest turtle dove;", "Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake,", "And long since ready forth his maske to move,", "With his bright Tead that flames with many a flake,", "And many a bachelor to waite on him,", "In theyr fresh garments trim.", "Bid her awake therefore, and soone her dight,", "For lo! the wished day is come at last,", "That shall, for all the paynes and sorrowes past,", "Pay to her usury of long delight:", "And, whylest she doth her dight,", "Doe ye to her of joy and solace sing,", "That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.", "", "Bring with you all the Nymphes that you can heare", "Both of the rivers and the forrests greene,", "And of the sea that neighbours to her neare:", "Al with gay girlands goodly wel beseene.", "And let them also with them bring in hand", "Another gay girland", "For my fayre love, of lillyes and of roses,", "Bound truelove wize, with a blew silke riband.", "And let them make great store of bridale poses,", "And let them eeke bring store of other flowers,", "To deck the bridale bowers.", "And let the ground whereas her foot shall tread,", "For feare the stones her tender foot should wrong,", "Be strewed with fragrant flowers all along,", "And diapred lyke the discolored mead.", "Which done, doe at her chamber dore awayt,", "For she will waken strayt;", "The whiles doe ye this song unto her sing,", "The woods shall to you answer, and your Eccho ring.", "", "Ye Nymphes of Mulla, which with carefull heed", "The silver scaly trouts doe tend full well,", "And greedy pikes which use therein to feed;", "(Those trouts and pikes all others doo excell;)", "And ye likewise, which keepe the rushy lake,", "Where none doo fishes take;", "Bynd up the locks the which hang scatterd light,", "And in his waters, which your mirror make,", "Behold your faces as the christall bright,", "That when you come whereas my love doth lie,", "No blemish she may spie.", "And eke, ye lightfoot mayds, which keepe the deere,", "That on the hoary mountayne used to towre;", "And the wylde wolves, which seeke them to devoure,", "With your steele darts doo chace from comming neer;", "Be also present heere,", "To helpe to decke her, and to help to sing,", "That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.", "", "Wake now, my love, awake! for it is time;", "The Rosy Morne long since left Tithones bed,", "All ready to her silver coche to clyme;", "And Phoebus gins to shew his glorious hed.", "Hark! how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies", "And carroll of Loves praise.", "The merry Larke hir mattins sings aloft;", "The Thrush replyes; the Mavis descant playes;", "The Ouzell shrills; the Ruddock warbles soft;", "So goodly all agree, with sweet consent,", "To this dayes merriment.", "Ah! my deere love, why doe ye sleepe thus long?", "When meeter were that ye should now awake,", "T' awayt the comming of your joyous make,", "And hearken to the birds love-learned song,", "The deawy leaves among!", "Nor they of joy and pleasance to you sing,", "That all the woods them answer, and theyr eccho ring.", "", "My love is now awake out of her dreames,", "And her fayre eyes, like stars that dimmed were", "With darksome cloud, now shew theyr goodly beams", "More bright then Hesperus his head doth rere.", "Come now, ye damzels, daughters of delight,", "Helpe quickly her to dight:", "But first come ye fayre houres, which were begot", "In Joves sweet paradice of Day and Night;", "Which doe the seasons of the yeare allot,", "And al, that ever in this world is fayre,", "Doe make and still repayre:", "And ye three handmayds of the Cyprian Queene,", "The which doe still adorne her beauties pride,", "Helpe to addorne my beautifullest bride:", "And, as ye her array, still throw betweene", "Some graces to be seene;", "And, as ye use to Venus, to her sing,", "The whiles the woods shal answer, and your eccho ring.", "", "Now is my love all ready forth to come:", "Let all the virgins therefore well awayt:", "And ye fresh boyes, that tend upon her groome,", "Prepare your selves; for he is comming strayt.", "Set all your things in seemely good aray,", "Fit for so joyfull day:", "The joyfulst day that ever sunne did see.", "Faire Sun! shew forth thy favourable ray,", "And let thy lifull heat not fervent be,", "For feare of burning her sunshyny face,", "Her beauty to disgrace.", "O fayrest Phoebus! father of the Muse!", "If ever I did honour thee aright,", "Or sing the thing that mote thy mind delight,", "Doe not thy servants simple boone refuse;", "But let this day, let this one day, be myne;", "Let all the rest be thine.", "Then I thy soverayne prayses loud wil sing,", "That all the woods shal answer, and theyr eccho ring.", "", "Harke! how the Minstrils gin to shrill aloud", "Their merry Musick that resounds from far,", "The pipe, the tabor, and the trembling Croud,", "That well agree withouten breach or jar.", "But, most of all, the Damzels doe delite", "When they their tymbrels smyte,", "And thereunto doe daunce and carrol sweet,", "That all the sences they doe ravish quite;", "The whyles the boyes run up and downe the street,", "Crying aloud with strong confused noyce,", "As if it were one voyce,", "Hymen, iö Hymen, Hymen, they do shout;", "That even to the heavens theyr shouting shrill", "Doth reach, and all the firmament doth fill;", "To which the people standing all about,", "As in approvance, doe thereto applaud,", "And loud advaunce her laud;", "And evermore they Hymen, Hymen sing,", "That al the woods them answer, and theyr eccho ring.", "", "Loe! where she comes along with portly pace,", "Lyke Phoebe, from her chamber of the East,", "Arysing forth to run her mighty race,", "Clad all in white, that seemes a virgin best.", "So well it her beseemes, that ye would weene", "Some angell she had beene.", "Her long loose yellow locks lyke golden wyre,", "Sprinckled with perle, and perling flowres atweene,", "Doe lyke a golden mantle her attyre;", "And, being crowned with a girland greene,", "Seeme lyke some mayden Queene.", "Her modest eyes, abashed to behold", "So many gazers as on her do stare,", "Upon the lowly ground affixed are;", "Ne dare lift up her countenance too bold,", "But blush to heare her prayses sung so loud,", "So farre from being proud.", "Nathlesse doe ye still loud her prayses sing,", "That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.", "", "Tell me, ye merchants daughters, did ye see", "So fayre a creature in your towne before;", "So sweet, so lovely, and so mild as she,", "Adornd with beautyes grace and vertues store?", "Her goodly eyes lyke Saphyres shining bright,", "Her forehead yvory white,", "Her cheekes lyke apples which the sun hath rudded,", "Her lips lyke cherryes charming men to byte,", "Her brest like to a bowle of creame uncrudded,", "Her paps lyke lyllies budded,", "Her snowie necke lyke to a marble towre;", "And all her body like a pallace fayre,", "Ascending up, with many a stately stayre,", "To honors seat and chastities sweet bowre.", "Why stand ye still ye virgins in amaze,", "Upon her so to gaze,", "Whiles ye forget your former lay to sing,", "To which the woods did answer, and your eccho ring?", "", "But if ye saw that which no eyes can see,", "The inward beauty of her lively spright,", "Garnisht with heavenly guifts of high degree,", "Much more then would ye wonder at that sight,", "And stand astonisht lyke to those which red", "Medusaes mazeful hed.", "There dwels sweet love, and constant chastity,", "Unspotted fayth, and comely womanhood,", "Regard of honour, and mild modesty;", "There vertue raynes as Queene in royal throne,", "And giveth lawes alone,", "The which the base affections doe obay,", "And yeeld theyr services unto her will;", "Ne thought of thing uncomely ever may", "Thereto approch to tempt her mind to ill.", "Had ye once seene these her celestial threasures,", "And unrevealed pleasures,", "Then would ye wonder, and her prayses sing,", "That al the woods should answer, and your echo ring.", "", "Open the temple gates unto my love,", "Open them wide that she may enter in,", "And all the postes adorne as doth behove,", "And all the pillours deck with girlands trim,", "For to receyve this Saynt with honour dew,", "That commeth in to you.", "With trembling steps, and humble reverence,", "She commeth in, before th' Almighties view;", "Of her ye virgins learne obedience,", "When so ye come into those holy places,", "To humble your proud faces:", "Bring her up to th' high altar, that she may", "The sacred ceremonies there partake,", "The which do endlesse matrimony make;", "And let the roring Organs loudly play", "The praises of the Lord in lively notes;", "The whiles, with hollow throates,", "The Choristers the joyous Antheme sing,", "That al the woods may answere, and their eccho ring.", "", "Behold, whiles she before the altar stands,", "Hearing the holy priest that to her speakes,", "And blesseth her with his two happy hands,", "How the red roses flush up in her cheekes,", "And the pure snow, with goodly vermill stayne", "Like crimsin dyde in grayne:", "That even th' Angels, which continually", "About the sacred Altare doe remaine,", "Forget their service and about her fly,", "Ofte peeping in her face, that seems more fayre,", "The more they on it stare.", "But her sad eyes, still fastened on the ground,", "Are governed with goodly modesty,", "That suffers not one looke to glaunce awry,", "Which may let in a little thought unsownd.", "Why blush ye, love, to give to me your hand,", "The pledge of all our band!", "Sing, ye sweet Angels, Alleluya sing,", "That all the woods may answere, and your eccho ring.", "", "Now al is done: bring home the bride againe;", "Bring home the triumph of our victory:", "Bring home with you the glory of her gaine;", "With joyance bring her and with jollity.", "Never had man more joyfull day then this,", "Whom heaven would heape with blis,", "Make feast therefore now all this live-long day;", "This day for ever to me holy is.", "Poure out the wine without restraint or stay,", "Poure not by cups, but by the belly full,", "Poure out to all that wull,", "And sprinkle all the postes and wals with wine,", "That they may sweat, and drunken be withall.", "Crowne ye God Bacchus with a coronall,", "And Hymen also crowne with wreathes of vine;", "And let the Graces daunce unto the rest,", "For they can doo it best:", "The whiles the maydens doe theyr carroll sing,", "To which the woods shall answer, and theyr eccho ring.", "", "Ring ye the bels, ye yong men of the towne,", "And leave your wonted labors for this day:", "This day is holy; doe ye write it downe,", "That ye for ever it remember may.", "This day the sunne is in his chiefest hight,", "With Barnaby the bright,", "From whence declining daily by degrees,", "He somewhat loseth of his heat and light,", "When once the Crab behind his back he sees.", "But for this time it ill ordained was,", "To chose the longest day in all the yeare,", "And shortest night, when longest fitter weare:", "Yet never day so long, but late would passe.", "Ring ye the bels, to make it weare away,", "And bonefiers make all day;", "And daunce about them, and about them sing,", "That all the woods may answer, and your eccho ring.", "", "Ah! when will this long weary day have end,", "And lende me leave to come unto my love?", "How slowly do the houres theyr numbers spend?", "How slowly does sad Time his feathers move?", "Hast thee, O fayrest Planet, to thy home,", "Within the Westerne fome:", "Thy tyred steedes long since have need of rest.", "Long though it be, at last I see it gloome,", "And the bright evening-star with golden creast", "Appeare out of the East.", "Fayre childe of beauty! glorious lampe of love!", "That all the host of heaven in rankes doost lead,", "And guydest lovers through the nights sad dread,", "How chearefully thou lookest from above,", "And seemst to laugh atweene thy twinkling light,", "As joying in the sight", "Of these glad many, which for joy doe sing,", "That all the woods them answer, and their echo ring!", "", "Now ceasse, ye damsels, your delights fore-past;", "Enough it is that all the day was youres:", "Now day is doen, and night is nighing fast,", "Now bring the Bryde into the brydall boures.", "The night is come, now soon her disaray,", "And in her bed her lay;", "Lay her in lillies and in violets,", "And silken courteins over her display,", "And odourd sheetes, and Arras coverlets.", "Behold how goodly my faire love does ly,", "In proud humility!", "Like unto Maia, when as Jove her took", "In Tempe, lying on the flowry gras,", "Twixt sleepe and wake, after she weary was,", "With bathing in the Acidalian brooke.", "Now it is night, ye damsels may be gon,", "And leave my love alone,", "And leave likewise your former lay to sing:", "The woods no more shall answere, nor your echo ring.", "", "Now welcome, night! thou night so long expected,", "That long daies labour doest at last defray,", "And all my cares, which cruell Love collected,", "Hast sumd in one, and cancelled for aye:", "Spread thy broad wing over my love and me,", "That no man may us see;", "And in thy sable mantle us enwrap,", "From feare of perrill and foule horror free.", "Let no false treason seeke us to entrap,", "Nor any dread disquiet once annoy", "The safety of our joy;", "But let the night be calme, and quietsome,", "Without tempestuous storms or sad afray:", "Lyke as when Jove with fayre Alcmena lay,", "When he begot the great Tirynthian groome:", "Or lyke as when he with thy selfe did lie", "And begot Majesty.", "And let the mayds and yong men cease to sing;", "Ne let the woods them answer nor theyr eccho ring.", "", "Let no lamenting cryes, nor dolefull teares,", "Be heard all night within, nor yet without:", "Ne let false whispers, breeding hidden feares,", "Breake gentle sleepe with misconceived dout.", "Let no deluding dreames, nor dreadfull sights,", "Make sudden sad affrights;", "Ne let house-fyres, nor lightnings helpelesse harmes,", "Ne let the Pouke, nor other evill sprights,", "Ne let mischivous witches with theyr charmes,", "Ne let hob Goblins, names whose sence we see not,", "Fray us with things that be not:", "Let not the shriech Oule nor the Storke be heard,", "Nor the night Raven, that still deadly yels;", "Nor damned ghosts, cald up with mighty spels,", "Nor griesly vultures, make us once affeard:", "Ne let th' unpleasant Quyre of Frogs still croking", "Make us to wish theyr choking.", "Let none of these theyr drery accents sing;", "Ne let the woods them answer, nor theyr eccho ring.", "", "But let stil Silence trew night-watches keepe,", "That sacred Peace may in assurance rayne,", "And tymely Sleep, when it is tyme to sleepe,", "May poure his limbs forth on your pleasant playne;", "The whiles an hundred little winged loves,", "Like divers-fethered doves,", "Shall fly and flutter round about your bed,", "And in the secret darke, that none reproves,", "Their prety stealthes shal worke, and snares shal spread", "To filch away sweet snatches of delight,", "Conceald through covert night.", "Ye sonnes of Venus, play your sports at will!", "For greedy pleasure, carelesse of your toyes,", "Thinks more upon her paradise of joyes,", "Then what ye do, albe it good or ill.", "All night therefore attend your merry play,", "For it will soone be day:", "Now none doth hinder you, that say or sing;", "Ne will the woods now answer, nor your Eccho ring.", "", "Who is the same, which at my window peepes?", "Or whose is that faire face that shines so bright?", "Is it not Cinthia, she that never sleepes,", "But walkes about high heaven al the night?", "O! fayrest goddesse, do thou not envy", "My love with me to spy:", "For thou likewise didst love, though now unthought,", "And for a fleece of wooll, which privily", "The Latmian shepherd once unto thee brought,", "His pleasures with thee wrought.", "Therefore to us be favorable now;", "And sith of wemens labours thou hast charge,", "And generation goodly dost enlarge,", "Encline thy will t'effect our wishfull vow,", "And the chast wombe informe with timely seed", "That may our comfort breed:", "Till which we cease our hopefull hap to sing;", "Ne let the woods us answere, nor our Eccho ring.", "", "And thou, great Juno! which with awful might", "The lawes of wedlock still dost patronize;", "And the religion of the faith first plight", "With sacred rites hast taught to solemnize;", "And eeke for comfort often called art", "Of women in their smart;", "Eternally bind thou this lovely band,", "And all thy blessings unto us impart.", "And thou, glad Genius! in whose gentle hand", "The bridale bowre and geniall bed remaine,", "Without blemish or staine;", "And the sweet pleasures of theyr loves delight", "With secret ayde doest succour and supply,", "Till they bring forth the fruitfull progeny;", "Send us the timely fruit of this same night.", "And thou, fayre Hebe! and thou, Hymen free!", "Grant that it may so be.", "Til which we cease your further prayse to sing;", "Ne any woods shall answer, nor your Eccho ring.", "", "And ye high heavens, the temple of the gods,", "In which a thousand torches flaming bright", "Doe burne, that to us wretched earthly clods", "In dreadful darknesse lend desired light", "And all ye powers which in the same remayne,", "More then we men can fayne!", "Poure out your blessing on us plentiously,", "And happy influence upon us raine,", "That we may raise a large posterity,", "Which from the earth, which they may long possesse", "With lasting happinesse,", "Up to your haughty pallaces may mount;", "And, for the guerdon of theyr glorious merit,", "May heavenly tabernacles there inherit,", "Of blessed Saints for to increase the count.", "So let us rest, sweet love, in hope of this,", "And cease till then our tymely joyes to sing:", "The woods no more us answer, nor our eccho ring!", "", "Song! made in lieu of many ornaments,", "With which my love should duly have been dect,", "Which cutting off through hasty accidents,", "Ye would not stay your dew time to expect,", "But promist both to recompens;", "Be unto her a goodly ornament,", "And for short time an endlesse moniment." ], "linecount": "433" }, { "title": "Sonnet 30 (Fire and Ice)", "author": "Edmund Spenser", "lines": [ "My love is like to ice, and I to fire:", "how comes it then that this her cold so great", "is not dissolv'd through my so hot desire,", "but harder grows, the more I her entreat?", "", "Or how comes it that my exceeding heat", "is not delayed by her heart frozen cold,", "but that I burn much more in boiling sweat,", "and feel my flames augmented manifold?", "", "What more miraculous thing may be told", "that fire, which all thing melts, should harden ice:", "and ice which is congealed with senseless cold,", "should kindle fire by wonderful device?", "", "Such is the pow'r of love in gentle mind", "that it can alter all the course of kind." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Mother and child", "author": "Eugene Field", "lines": [ "One night a tiny dewdrop fell", "Into the bosom of a rose,--", "\"Dear little one, I love thee well,", "Be ever here thy sweet repose!\"", "", "Seeing the rose with love bedight,", "The envious sky frowned dark, and then", "Sent forth a messenger of light", "And caught the dewdrop up again.", "", "\"Oh, give me back my heavenly child,--", "My love!\" the rose in anguish cried;", "Alas! the sky triumphant smiled,", "And so the flower, heart-broken, died." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Hugo's \"Flower to butterfly\"", "author": "Eugene Field", "lines": [ "Sweet, bide with me and let my love", "Be an enduring tether;", "Oh, wanton not from spot to spot,", "But let us dwell together.", "", "You've come each morn to sip the sweets", "With which you found me dripping,", "Yet never knew it was not dew", "But tears that you were sipping.", "", "You gambol over honey meads", "Where siren bees are humming;", "But mine the fate to watch and wait", "For my beloved's coming.", "", "The sunshine that delights you now", "Shall fade to darkness gloomy;", "You should not fear if, biding here,", "You nestled closer to me.", "", "So rest you, love, and be my love,", "That my enraptured blooming", "May fill your sight with tender light,", "Your wings with sweet perfuming.", "", "Or, if you will not bide with me", "Upon this quiet heather,", "Oh, give me wing, thou beauteous thing,", "That we may soar together." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Aurora Leigh (excerpts)", "author": "Elizabeth Barrett Browning", "lines": [ "[Book 1]", "I am like,", "They tell me, my dear father. Broader brows", "Howbeit, upon a slenderer undergrowth", "Of delicate features, -- paler, near as grave ;", "But then my mother's smile breaks up the whole,", "And makes it better sometimes than itself.", "So, nine full years, our days were hid with God", "Among his mountains : I was just thirteen,", "Still growing like the plants from unseen roots", "In tongue-tied Springs, -- and suddenly awoke", "To full life and life 's needs and agonies,", "With an intense, strong, struggling heart beside", "A stone-dead father. Life, struck sharp on death,", "Makes awful lightning. His last word was, `Love --'", "`Love, my child, love, love !' -- (then he had done with grief)", "`Love, my child.' Ere I answered he was gone,", "And none was left to love in all the world.", "There, ended childhood. What succeeded next", "I recollect as, after fevers, men", "Thread back the passage of delirium,", "Missing the turn still, baffled by the door ;", "Smooth endless days, notched here and there with knives ;", "A weary, wormy darkness, spurr'd i' the flank", "With flame, that it should eat and end itself", "Like some tormented scorpion. Then at last", "I do remember clearly, how there came", "A stranger with authority, not right,", "(I thought not) who commanded, caught me up", "From old Assunta's neck ; how, with a shriek,", "She let me go, -- while I, with ears too full", "Of my father's silence, to shriek back a word,", "In all a child's astonishment at grief", "Stared at the wharf-edge where she stood and moaned,", "My poor Assunta, where she stood and moaned !", "The white walls, the blue hills, my Italy,", "Drawn backward from the shuddering steamer-deck,", "Like one in anger drawing back her skirts", "Which supplicants catch at. Then the bitter sea", "Inexorably pushed between us both,", "And sweeping up the ship with my despair", "Threw us out as a pasture to the stars.", "Ten nights and days we voyaged on the deep ;", "Ten nights and days, without the common face", "Of any day or night ; the moon and sun", "Cut off from the green reconciling earth,", "To starve into a blind ferocity", "And glare unnatural ; the very sky", "(Dropping its bell-net down upon the sea", "As if no human heart should 'scape alive,)", "Bedraggled with the desolating salt,", "Until it seemed no more that holy heaven", "To which my father went. All new and strange", "The universe turned stranger, for a child.", "Then, land ! -- then, England ! oh, the frosty cliffs", "Looked cold upon me. Could I find a home", "Among those mean red houses through the fog ?", "And when I heard my father's language first", "From alien lips which had no kiss for mine", "I wept aloud, then laughed, then wept, then wept,", "And some one near me said the child was mad", "Through much sea-sickness. The train swept us on.", "Was this my father's England ? the great isle ?", "The ground seemed cut up from the fellowship", "Of verdure, field from field, as man from man ;", "The skies themselves looked low and positive,", "As almost you could touch them with a hand,", "And dared to do it they were so far off", "From God's celestial crystals ; all things blurred", "And dull and vague. Did Shakspeare and his mates", "Absorb the light here ? -- not a hill or stone", "With heart to strike a radiant colour up", "Or active outline on the indifferent air.", "I think I see my father's sister stand", "Upon the hall-step of her country-house", "To give me welcome. She stood straight and calm,", "Her somewhat narrow forehead braided tight", "As if for taming accidental thoughts", "From possible pulses ; brown hair pricked with grey", "By frigid use of life, (she was not old", "Although my father's elder by a year)", "A nose drawn sharply yet in delicate lines ;", "A close mild mouth, a little soured about", "The ends, through speaking unrequited loves", "Or peradventure niggardly half-truths ;", "Eyes of no colour, -- once they might have smiled,", "But never, never have forgot themselves", "In smiling ; cheeks, in which was yet a rose", "Of perished summers, like a rose in a book,", "Kept more for ruth than pleasure, -- if past bloom,", "Past fading also.", "She had lived, we'll say,", "A harmless life, she called a virtuous life,", "A quiet life, which was not life at all,", "(But that, she had not lived enough to know)", "Between the vicar and the country squires,", "The lord-lieutenant looking down sometimes", "From the empyrean to assure their souls", "Against chance-vulgarisms, and, in the abyss", "The apothecary, looked on once a year", "To prove their soundness of humility.", "The poor-club exercised her Christian gifts", "Of knitting stockings, stitching petticoats,", "Because we are of one flesh after all", "And need one flannel (with a proper sense", "Of difference in the quality) -- and still", "The book-club, guarded from your modern trick", "Of shaking dangerous questions from the crease,", "Preserved her intellectual. She had lived", "A sort of cage-bird life, born in a cage,", "Accounting that to leap from perch to perch", "Was act and joy enough for any bird.", "Dear heaven, how silly are the things that live", "In thickets, and eat berries !", "I, alas,", "A wild bird scarcely fledged, was brought to her cage,", "And she was there to meet me. Very kind.", "Bring the clean water, give out the fresh seed.", "She stood upon the steps to welcome me,", "Calm, in black garb. I clung about her neck, --", "Young babes, who catch at every shred of wool", "To draw the new light closer, catch and cling", "Less blindly. In my ears, my father's word", "Hummed ignorantly, as the sea in shells,", "`Love, love, my child.' She, black there with my grief,", "Might feel my love -- she was his sister once,", "I clung to her. A moment, she seemed moved,", "Kissed me with cold lips, suffered me to cling,", "And drew me feebly through the hall into", "The room she sate in.", "There, with some strange spasm", "Of pain and passion, she wrung loose my hands", "Imperiously, and held me at arm's length,", "And with two grey-steel naked-bladed eyes", "Searched through my face, -- ay, stabbed it through and through,", "Through brows and cheeks and chin, as if to find", "A wicked murderer in my innocent face,", "If not here, there perhaps. Then, drawing breath,", "She struggled for her ordinary calm", "And missed it rather, -- told me not to shrink,", "As if she had told me not to lie or swear, --", "`She loved my father, and would love me too", "As long as I deserved it.' Very kind.", "", "[Book 5]", "", "AURORA LEIGH, be humble. Shall I hope", "To speak my poems in mysterious tune", "With man and nature ? -- with the lava-lymph", "That trickles from successive galaxies", "Still drop by drop adown the finger of God", "In still new worlds ? -- with summer-days in this ?", "That scarce dare breathe they are so beautiful ?--", "With spring's delicious trouble in the ground,", "Tormented by the quickened blood of roots,", "And softly pricked by golden crocus-sheaves", "In token of the harvest-time of flowers ?--", "With winters and with autumns, -- and beyond,", "With the human heart's large seasons, when it hopes", "And fears, joys, grieves, and loves ? -- with all that strain", "Of sexual passion, which devours the flesh", "In a sacrament of souls ? with mother's breasts", "Which, round the new-made creatures hanging there,", "Throb luminous and harmonious like pure spheres ? --", "With multitudinous life, and finally", "With the great escapings of ecstatic souls,", "Who, in a rush of too long prisoned flame,", "Their radiant faces upward, burn away", "This dark of the body, issuing on a world,", "Beyond our mortal ? -- can I speak my verse", "Sp plainly in tune to these things and the rest,", "That men shall feel it catch them on the quick,", "As having the same warrant over them", "To hold and move them if they will or no,", "Alike imperious as the primal rhythm", "Of that theurgic nature ? I must fail,", "Who fail at the beginning to hold and move", "One man, -- and he my cousin, and he my friend,", "And he born tender, made intelligent,", "Inclined to ponder the precipitous sides", "Of difficult questions ; yet, obtuse to me,", "Of me, incurious ! likes me very well,", "And wishes me a paradise of good,", "Good looks, good means, and good digestion, -- ay,", "But otherwise evades me, puts me off", "With kindness, with a tolerant gentleness, --", "Too light a book for a grave man's reading ! Go,", "Aurora Leigh : be humble.", "There it is,", "We women are too apt to look to One,", "Which proves a certain impotence in art.", "We strain our natures at doing something great,", "Far less because it 's something great to do,", "Than haply that we, so, commend ourselves", "As being not small, and more appreciable", "To some one friend. We must have mediators", "Betwixt our highest conscience and the judge ;", "Some sweet saint's blood must quicken in our palms", "Or all the life in heaven seems slow and cold :", "Good only being perceived as the end of good,", "And God alone pleased, -- that's too poor, we think,", "And not enough for us by any means.", "Ay, Romney, I remember, told me once", "We miss the abstract when we comprehend.", "We miss it most when we aspire, -- and fail.", "Yet, so, I will not. -- This vile woman's way", "Of trailing garments, shall not trip me up :", "I 'll have no traffic with the personal thought", "In art's pure temple. Must I work in vain,", "Without the approbation of a man ?", "It cannot be ; it shall not. Fame itself,", "That approbation of the general race,", "Presents a poor end, (though the arrow speed,", "Shot straight with vigorous finger to the white,)", "And the highest fame was never reached except", "By what was aimed above it. Art for art,", "And good for God Himself, the essential Good !", "We 'll keep our aims sublime, our eyes erect,", "Although our woman-hands should shake and fail ;", "And if we fail .. But must we ? --", "Shall I fail ?", "The Greeks said grandly in their tragic phrase,", "`Let no one be called happy till his death.'", "To which I add, -- Let no one till his death", "Be called unhappy. Measure not the work", "Until the day 's out and the labour done,", "Then bring your gauges. If the day's work 's scant,", "Why, call it scant ; affect no compromise ;", "And, in that we have nobly striven at least,", "Deal with us nobly, women though we be.", "And honour us with truth if not with praise." ], "linecount": "229" }, { "title": "The Fir-Tree and the Brook", "author": "Helen Hunt Jackson", "lines": [ "The Fir-Tree looked on stars, but loved the Brook!", "\"O silver-voiced! if thou wouldst wait,", "My love can bravely woo.\" All smiles forsook", "The brook's white face. \"Too late!", "Too late! I go to wed the sea.", "I know not if my love would curse or bless thee.", "I may not, dare not, tarry to caress thee,", "Oh, do not follow me!", "", "The Fir-Tree moaned and moaned till spring;", "Then laughed in manic joy to feel", "Early one day, the woodsmen of the King", "Sign him with a sign of burning steel,", "The first to fall. \"Now flee", "Thy swiftest, Brook! Thy love may curse or bless me,", "I care not, if but once thou dost caress me,", "O Brook, I follow thee!", "", "All torn and bruised with mark of adze and chain,", "Hurled down the dizzy slide of sand,", "Tossed by great waves in ecstsy of pain,", "And rudely thrown at last to land,", "The Fir-Tree heard: \"Oh, see", "With what fierce love it is I must caress thee!", "I warned thee I might curse, and never bless thee,", "Why didst thou follow me?", "", "All stately set with spar and brace and rope,", "The Fir-Tree stood and sailed and sailed.", "In wildest storm when all the ship lost hope,", "The Fir-Tree never shook nor quailed,", "Nor ceased from saying, \"Free", "Art thou, O Brook! But once thou hast caressed me;", "For life, for death, thy love has cursed or blessed me;", "Behold, I follow thee!\"", "", "Lost in a night, and no man left to tell,", "Crushed in the giant iceberg's play,", "The ship went down without a song, a knell.", "Still drifts the Fir-Tree night and day,", "Still moans along the sea", "A voice: \"O Fir-Tree! thus must I possess thee;", "Eternally, brave love, will I caress thee,", "Dead for the love of me!\"" ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Elegy IX: The Autumnal", "author": "John Donne", "lines": [ "No spring nor summer Beauty hath such grace", "As I have seen in one autumnall face.", "Young beauties force our love, and that's a rape,", "This doth but counsel, yet you cannot 'scape.", "If 'twere a shame to love, here 'twere no shame,", "Affection here takes Reverence's name.", "Were her first years the Golden Age; that's true,", "But now she's gold oft tried, and ever new.", "That was her torrid and inflaming time,", "This is her tolerable Tropique clime.", "Fair eyes, who asks more heat than comes from hence,", "He in a fever wishes pestilence.", "Call not these wrinkles, graves; if graves they were,", "They were Love's graves; for else he is no where.", "Yet lies not Love dead here, but here doth sit", "Vowed to this trench, like an Anachorit.", "", "And here, till hers, which must be his death, come,", "He doth not dig a grave, but build a tomb.", "Here dwells he, though he sojourn ev'ry where,", "In progress, yet his standing house is here.", "Here, where still evening is; not noon, nor night;", "Where no voluptuousness, yet all delight", "In all her words, unto all hearers fit,", "You may at revels, you at counsel, sit.", "This is Love's timber, youth his under-wood;", "There he, as wine in June enrages blood,", "Which then comes seasonabliest, when our taste", "And appetite to other things is past.", "Xerxes' strange Lydian love, the Platane tree,", "Was loved for age, none being so large as she,", "Or else because, being young, nature did bless", "Her youth with age's glory, Barrenness.", "If we love things long sought, Age is a thing", "Which we are fifty years in compassing;", "If transitory things, which soon decay,", "Age must be loveliest at the latest day.", "But name not winter-faces, whose skin's slack;", "Lank, as an unthrift's purse; but a soul's sack;", "Whose eyes seek light within, for all here's shade;", "Whose mouths are holes, rather worn out than made;", "Whose every tooth to a several place is gone,", "To vex their souls at Resurrection;", "Name not these living deaths-heads unto me,", "For these, not ancient, but antique be.", "I hate extremes; yet I had rather stay", "With tombs than cradles, to wear out a day.", "Since such love's natural lation is, may still", "My love descend, and journey down the hill,", "Not panting after growing beauties so,", "I shall ebb out with them, who homeward go." ], "linecount": "50" }, { "title": "Endymion: Book IV", "author": "John Keats", "lines": [ "Muse of my native land! loftiest Muse!", "O first-born on the mountains! by the hues", "Of heaven on the spiritual air begot:", "Long didst thou sit alone in northern grot,", "While yet our England was a wolfish den;", "Before our forests heard the talk of men;", "Before the first of Druids was a child;--", "Long didst thou sit amid our regions wild", "Rapt in a deep prophetic solitude.", "There came an eastern voice of solemn mood:--", "Yet wast thou patient. Then sang forth the Nine,", "Apollo's garland:--yet didst thou divine", "Such home-bred glory, that they cry'd in vain,", "\"Come hither, Sister of the Island!\" Plain", "Spake fair Ausonia; and once more she spake", "A higher summons:--still didst thou betake", "Thee to thy native hopes. O thou hast won", "A full accomplishment! The thing is done,", "Which undone, these our latter days had risen", "On barren souls. Great Muse, thou know'st what prison", "Of flesh and bone, curbs, and confines, and frets", "Our spirit's wings: despondency besets", "Our pillows; and the fresh to-morrow morn", "Seems to give forth its light in very scorn", "Of our dull, uninspired, snail-paced lives.", "Long have I said, how happy he who shrives", "To thee! But then I thought on poets gone,", "And could not pray:--nor can I now--so on", "I move to the end in lowliness of heart.----", "", " \"Ah, woe is me! that I should fondly part", "From my dear native land! Ah, foolish maid!", "Glad was the hour, when, with thee, myriads bade", "Adieu to Ganges and their pleasant fields!", "To one so friendless the clear freshet yields", "A bitter coolness, the ripe grape is sour:", "Yet I would have, great gods! but one short hour", "Of native air--let me but die at home.\"", "", " Endymion to heaven's airy dome", "Was offering up a hecatomb of vows,", "When these words reach'd him. Whereupon he bows", "His head through thorny-green entanglement", "Of underwood, and to the sound is bent,", "Anxious as hind towards her hidden fawn.", "", " \"Is no one near to help me? No fair dawn", "Of life from charitable voice? No sweet saying", "To set my dull and sadden'd spirit playing?", "No hand to toy with mine? No lips so sweet", "That I may worship them? No eyelids meet", "To twinkle on my bosom? No one dies", "Before me, till from these enslaving eyes", "Redemption sparkles!--I am sad and lost.\"", "", " Thou, Carian lord, hadst better have been tost", "Into a whirlpool. Vanish into air,", "Warm mountaineer! for canst thou only bear", "A woman's sigh alone and in distress?", "See not her charms! Is Phoebe passionless?", "Phoebe is fairer far--O gaze no more:--", "Yet if thou wilt behold all beauty's store,", "Behold her panting in the forest grass!", "Do not those curls of glossy jet surpass", "For tenderness the arms so idly lain", "Amongst them? Feelest not a kindred pain,", "To see such lovely eyes in swimming search", "After some warm delight, that seems to perch", "Dovelike in the dim cell lying beyond", "Their upper lids?--Hist! \"O for Hermes' wand", "To touch this flower into human shape!", "That woodland Hyacinthus could escape", "From his green prison, and here kneeling down", "Call me his queen, his second life's fair crown!", "Ah me, how I could love!--My soul doth melt", "For the unhappy youth--Love! I have felt", "So faint a kindness, such a meek surrender", "To what my own full thoughts had made too tender,", "That but for tears my life had fled away!--", "Ye deaf and senseless minutes of the day,", "And thou, old forest, hold ye this for true,", "There is no lightning, no authentic dew", "But in the eye of love: there's not a sound,", "Melodious howsoever, can confound", "The heavens and earth in one to such a death", "As doth the voice of love: there's not a breath", "Will mingle kindly with the meadow air,", "Till it has panted round, and stolen a share", "Of passion from the heart!\"--", "", " Upon a bough", "He leant, wretched. He surely cannot now", "Thirst for another love: O impious,", "That he can even dream upon it thus!--", "Thought he, \"Why am I not as are the dead,", "Since to a woe like this I have been led", "Through the dark earth, and through the wondrous sea?", "Goddess! I love thee not the less: from thee", "By Juno's smile I turn not--no, no, no--", "While the great waters are at ebb and flow.--", "I have a triple soul! O fond pretence--", "For both, for both my love is so immense,", "I feel my heart is cut in twain for them.\"", "", " And so he groan'd, as one by beauty slain.", "The lady's heart beat quick, and he could see", "Her gentle bosom heave tumultuously.", "He sprang from his green covert: there she lay,", "Sweet as a muskrose upon new-made hay;", "With all her limbs on tremble, and her eyes", "Shut softly up alive. To speak he tries.", "\"Fair damsel, pity me! forgive that I", "Thus violate thy bower's sanctity!", "O pardon me, for I am full of grief--", "Grief born of thee, young angel! fairest thief!", "Who stolen hast away the wings wherewith", "I was to top the heavens. Dear maid, sith", "Thou art my executioner, and I feel", "Loving and hatred, misery and weal,", "Will in a few short hours be nothing to me,", "And all my story that much passion slew me;", "Do smile upon the evening of my days:", "And, for my tortur'd brain begins to craze,", "Be thou my nurse; and let me understand", "How dying I shall kiss that lily hand.--", "Dost weep for me? Then should I be content.", "Scowl on, ye fates! until the firmament", "Outblackens Erebus, and the full-cavern'd earth", "Crumbles into itself. By the cloud girth", "Of Jove, those tears have given me a thirst", "To meet oblivion.\"--As her heart would burst", "The maiden sobb'd awhile, and then replied:", "\"Why must such desolation betide", "As that thou speakest of? Are not these green nooks", "Empty of all misfortune? Do the brooks", "Utter a gorgon voice? Does yonder thrush,", "Schooling its half-fledg'd little ones to brush", "About the dewy forest, whisper tales?--", "Speak not of grief, young stranger, or cold snails", "Will slime the rose to night. Though if thou wilt,", "Methinks 'twould be a guilt--a very guilt--", "Not to companion thee, and sigh away", "The light--the dusk--the dark--till break of day!\"", "\"Dear lady,\" said Endymion, \"'tis past:", "I love thee! and my days can never last.", "That I may pass in patience still speak:", "Let me have music dying, and I seek", "No more delight--I bid adieu to all.", "Didst thou not after other climates call,", "And murmur about Indian streams?\"--Then she,", "Sitting beneath the midmost forest tree,", "For pity sang this roundelay------", "", "", " \"O Sorrow,", " Why dost borrow", "The natural hue of health, from vermeil lips?--", " To give maiden blushes", " To the white rose bushes?", "Or is it thy dewy hand the daisy tips?", "", " \"O Sorrow,", " Why dost borrow", "The lustrous passion from a falcon-eye?--", " To give the glow-worm light?", " Or, on a moonless night,", "To tinge, on syren shores, the salt sea-spry?", "", " \"O Sorrow,", " Why dost borrow", "The mellow ditties from a mourning tongue?--", " To give at evening pale", " Unto the nightingale,", "That thou mayst listen the cold dews among?", "", " \"O Sorrow,", " Why dost borrow", "Heart's lightness from the merriment of May?--", " A lover would not tread", " A cowslip on the head,", "Though he should dance from eve till peep of day--", " Nor any drooping flower", " Held sacred for thy bower,", "Wherever he may sport himself and play.", "", " \"To Sorrow", " I bade good-morrow,", "And thought to leave her far away behind;", " But cheerly, cheerly,", " She loves me dearly;", "She is so constant to me, and so kind:", " I would deceive her", " And so leave her,", "But ah! she is so constant and so kind.", "", "\"Beneath my palm trees, by the river side,", "I sat a weeping: in the whole world wide", "There was no one to ask me why I wept,--", " And so I kept", "Brimming the water-lily cups with tears", " Cold as my fears.", "", "\"Beneath my palm trees, by the river side,", "I sat a weeping: what enamour'd bride,", "Cheated by shadowy wooer from the clouds,", " But hides and shrouds", "Beneath dark palm trees by a river side?", "", "\"And as I sat, over the light blue hills", "There came a noise of revellers: the rills", "Into the wide stream came of purple hue--", " 'Twas Bacchus and his crew!", "The earnest trumpet spake, and silver thrills", "From kissing cymbals made a merry din--", " 'Twas Bacchus and his kin!", "Like to a moving vintage down they came,", "Crown'd with green leaves, and faces all on flame;", "All madly dancing through the pleasant valley,", " To scare thee, Melancholy!", "O then, O then, thou wast a simple name!", "And I forgot thee, as the berried holly", "By shepherds is forgotten, when, in June,", "Tall chesnuts keep away the sun and moon:--", " I rush'd into the folly!", "", "\"Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood,", "Trifling his ivy-dart, in dancing mood,", " With sidelong laughing;", "And little rills of crimson wine imbrued", "His plump white arms, and shoulders, enough white", " For Venus' pearly bite;", "And near him rode Silenus on his ass,", "Pelted with flowers as he on did pass", " Tipsily quaffing.", "", "\"Whence came ye, merry Damsels! whence came ye!", "So many, and so many, and such glee?", "Why have ye left your bowers desolate,", " Your lutes, and gentler fate?--", "‘We follow Bacchus! Bacchus on the wing?", " A conquering!", "Bacchus, young Bacchus! good or ill betide,", "We dance before him thorough kingdoms wide:--", "Come hither, lady fair, and joined be", " To our wild minstrelsy!'", "", "\"Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs! whence came ye!", "So many, and so many, and such glee?", "Why have ye left your forest haunts, why left", " Your nuts in oak-tree cleft?--", "‘For wine, for wine we left our kernel tree;", "For wine we left our heath, and yellow brooms,", " And cold mushrooms;", "For wine we follow Bacchus through the earth;", "Great God of breathless cups and chirping mirth!--", "Come hither, lady fair, and joined be", "To our mad minstrelsy!'", "", "\"Over wide streams and mountains great we went,", "And, save when Bacchus kept his ivy tent,", "Onward the tiger and the leopard pants,", " With Asian elephants:", "Onward these myriads--with song and dance,", "With zebras striped, and sleek Arabians' prance,", "Web-footed alligators, crocodiles,", "Bearing upon their scaly backs, in files,", "Plump infant laughers mimicking the coil", "Of seamen, and stout galley-rowers' toil:", "With toying oars and silken sails they glide,", " Nor care for wind and tide.", "", "\"Mounted on panthers' furs and lions' manes,", "From rear to van they scour about the plains;", "A three days' journey in a moment done:", "And always, at the rising of the sun,", "About the wilds they hunt with spear and horn,", " On spleenful unicorn.", "", "\"I saw Osirian Egypt kneel adown", " Before the vine-wreath crown!", "I saw parch'd Abyssinia rouse and sing", " To the silver cymbals' ring!", "I saw the whelming vintage hotly pierce", " Old Tartary the fierce!", "The kings of Inde their jewel-sceptres vail,", "And from their treasures scatter pearled hail;", "Great Brahma from his mystic heaven groans,", " And all his priesthood moans;", "Before young Bacchus' eye-wink turning pale.--", "Into these regions came I following him,", "Sick hearted, weary--so I took a whim", "To stray away into these forests drear", " Alone, without a peer:", "And I have told thee all thou mayest hear.", "", " \"Young stranger!", " I've been a ranger", "In search of pleasure throughout every clime:", " Alas! 'tis not for me!", " Bewitch'd I sure must be,", "To lose in grieving all my maiden prime.", "", " \"Come then, Sorrow!", " Sweetest Sorrow!", "Like an own babe I nurse thee on my breast:", " I thought to leave thee", " And deceive thee,", "But now of all the world I love thee best.", "", " \"There is not one,", " No, no, not one", "But thee to comfort a poor lonely maid;", " Thou art her mother,", " And her brother,", "Her playmate, and her wooer in the shade.\"", "", " O what a sigh she gave in finishing,", "And look, quite dead to every worldly thing!", "Endymion could not speak, but gazed on her;", "And listened to the wind that now did stir", "About the crisped oaks full drearily,", "Yet with as sweet a softness as might be", "Remember'd from its velvet summer song.", "At last he said: \"Poor lady, how thus long", "Have I been able to endure that voice?", "Fair Melody! kind Syren! I've no choice;", "I must be thy sad servant evermore:", "I cannot choose but kneel here and adore.", "Alas, I must not think--by Phoebe, no!", "Let me not think, soft Angel! shall it be so?", "Say, beautifullest, shall I never think?", "O thou could'st foster me beyond the brink", "Of recollection! make my watchful care", "Close up its bloodshot eyes, nor see despair!", "Do gently murder half my soul, and I", "Shall feel the other half so utterly!--", "I'm giddy at that cheek so fair and smooth;", "O let it blush so ever! let it soothe", "My madness! let it mantle rosy-warm", "With the tinge of love, panting in safe alarm.--", "This cannot be thy hand, and yet it is;", "And this is sure thine other softling--this", "Thine own fair bosom, and I am so near!", "Wilt fall asleep? O let me sip that tear!", "And whisper one sweet word that I may know", "This is this world--sweet dewy blossom!\"--Woe!", "Woe! Woe to that Endymion! Where is he?--", "Even these words went echoing dismally", "Through the wide forest--a most fearful tone,", "Like one repenting in his latest moan;", "And while it died away a shade pass'd by,", "As of a thunder cloud. When arrows fly", "Through the thick branches, poor ring-doves sleek forth", "Their timid necks and tremble; so these both", "Leant to each other trembling, and sat so", "Waiting for some destruction--when lo,", "Foot-feather'd Mercury appear'd sublime", "Beyond the tall tree tops; and in less time", "Than shoots the slanted hail-storm, down he dropt", "Towards the ground; but rested not, nor stopt", "One moment from his home: only the sward", "He with his wand light touch'd, and heavenward", "Swifter than sight was gone--even before", "The teeming earth a sudden witness bore", "Of his swift magic. Diving swans appear", "Above the crystal circlings white and clear;", "And catch the cheated eye in wild surprise,", "How they can dive in sight and unseen rise--", "So from the turf outsprang two steeds jet-black,", "Each with large dark blue wings upon his back.", "The youth of Caria plac'd the lovely dame", "On one, and felt himself in spleen to tame", "The other's fierceness. Through the air they flew,", "High as the eagles. Like two drops of dew", "Exhal'd to Phoebus' lips, away they are gone,", "Far from the earth away--unseen, alone,", "Among cool clouds and winds, but that the free,", "The buoyant life of song can floating be", "Above their heads, and follow them untir'd.--", "Muse of my native land, am I inspir'd?", "This is the giddy air, and I must spread", "Wide pinions to keep here; nor do I dread", "Or height, or depth, or width, or any chance", "Precipitous: I have beneath my glance", "Those towering horses and their mournful freight.", "Could I thus sail, and see, and thus await", "Fearless for power of thought, without thine aid?--", "There is a sleepy dusk, an odorous shade", "From some approaching wonder, and behold", "Those winged steeds, with snorting nostrils bold", "Snuff at its faint extreme, and seem to tire,", "Dying to embers from their native fire!", "", " There curl'd a purple mist around them; soon,", "It seem'd as when around the pale new moon", "Sad Zephyr droops the clouds like weeping willow:", "'Twas Sleep slow journeying with head on pillow.", "For the first time, since he came nigh dead born", "From the old womb of night, his cave forlorn", "Had he left more forlorn; for the first time,", "He felt aloof the day and morning's prime--", "Because into his depth Cimmerian", "There came a dream, shewing how a young man,", "Ere a lean bat could plump its wintery skin,", "Would at high Jove's empyreal footstool win", "An immortality, and how espouse", "Jove's daughter, and be reckon'd of his house.", "Now was he slumbering towards heaven's gate,", "That he might at the threshold one hour wait", "To hear the marriage melodies, and then", "Sink downward to his dusky cave again.", "His litter of smooth semilucent mist,", "Diversely ting'd with rose and amethyst,", "Puzzled those eyes that for the centre sought;", "And scarcely for one moment could be caught", "His sluggish form reposing motionless.", "Those two on winged steeds, with all the stress", "Of vision search'd for him, as one would look", "Athwart the sallows of a river nook", "To catch a glance at silver throated eels,--", "Or from old Skiddaw's top, when fog conceals", "His rugged forehead in a mantle pale,", "With an eye-guess towards some pleasant vale", "Descry a favourite hamlet faint and far.", "", " These raven horses, though they foster'd are", "Of earth's splenetic fire, dully drop", "Their full-veined ears, nostrils blood wide, and stop;", "Upon the spiritless mist have they outspread", "Their ample feathers, are in slumber dead,--", "And on those pinions, level in mid air,", "Endymion sleepeth and the lady fair.", "Slowly they sail, slowly as icy isle", "Upon a calm sea drifting: and meanwhile", "The mournful wanderer dreams. Behold! he walks", "On heaven's pavement; brotherly he talks", "To divine powers: from his hand full fain", "Juno's proud birds are pecking pearly grain:", "He tries the nerve of Phoebus' golden bow,", "And asketh where the golden apples grow:", "Upon his arm he braces Pallas' shield,", "And strives in vain to unsettle and wield", "A Jovian thunderbolt: arch Hebe brings", "A full-brimm'd goblet, dances lightly, sings", "And tantalizes long; at last he drinks,", "And lost in pleasure at her feet he sinks,", "Touching with dazzled lips her starlight hand.", "He blows a bugle,--an ethereal band", "Are visible above: the Seasons four,--", "Green-kyrtled Spring, flush Summer, golden store", "In Autumn's sickle, Winter frosty hoar,", "Join dance with shadowy Hours; while still the blast,", "In swells unmitigated, still doth last", "To sway their floating morris. \"Whose is this?", "Whose bugle?\" he inquires: they smile--\"O Dis!", "Why is this mortal here? Dost thou not know", "Its mistress' lips? Not thou?--'Tis Dian's: lo!", "She rises crescented!\" He looks, 'tis she,", "His very goddess: good-bye earth, and sea,", "And air, and pains, and care, and suffering;", "Good-bye to all but love! Then doth he spring", "Towards her, and awakes--and, strange, o'erhead,", "Of those same fragrant exhalations bred,", "Beheld awake his very dream: the gods", "Stood smiling; merry Hebe laughs and nods;", "And Phoebe bends towards him crescented.", "O state perplexing! On the pinion bed,", "Too well awake, he feels the panting side", "Of his delicious lady. He who died", "For soaring too audacious in the sun,", "Where that same treacherous wax began to run,", "Felt not more tongue-tied than Endymion.", "His heart leapt up as to its rightful throne,", "To that fair shadow'd passion puls'd its way--", "Ah, what perplexity! Ah, well a day!", "So fond, so beauteous was his bed-fellow,", "He could not help but kiss her: then he grew", "Awhile forgetful of all beauty save", "Young Phoebe's, golden hair'd; and so 'gan crave", "Forgiveness: yet he turn'd once more to look", "At the sweet sleeper,--all his soul was shook,--", "She press'd his hand in slumber; so once more", "He could not help but kiss her and adore.", "At this the shadow wept, melting away.", "The Latmian started up: \"Bright goddess, stay!", "Search my most hidden breast! By truth's own tongue,", "I have no dædale heart: why is it wrung", "To desperation? Is there nought for me,", "Upon the bourne of bliss, but misery?\"", "", " These words awoke the stranger of dark tresses:", "Her dawning love-look rapt Endymion blesses", "With 'haviour soft. Sleep yawned from underneath.", "\"Thou swan of Ganges, let us no more breathe", "This murky phantasm! thou contented seem'st", "Pillow'd in lovely idleness, nor dream'st", "What horrors may discomfort thee and me.", "Ah, shouldst thou die from my heart-treachery!--", "Yet did she merely weep--her gentle soul", "Hath no revenge in it: as it is whole", "In tenderness, would I were whole in love!", "Can I prize thee, fair maid, all price above,", "Even when I feel as true as innocence?", "I do, I do.--What is this soul then? Whence", "Came it? It does not seem my own, and I", "Have no self-passion or identity.", "Some fearful end must be: where, where is it?", "By Nemesis, I see my spirit flit", "Alone about the dark--Forgive me, sweet:", "Shall we away?\" He rous'd the steeds: they beat", "Their wings chivalrous into the clear air,", "Leaving old Sleep within his vapoury lair.", "", " The good-night blush of eve was waning slow,", "And Vesper, risen star, began to throe", "In the dusk heavens silvery, when they", "Thus sprang direct towards the Galaxy.", "Nor did speed hinder converse soft and strange--", "Eternal oaths and vows they interchange,", "In such wise, in such temper, so aloof", "Up in the winds, beneath a starry roof,", "So witless of their doom, that verily", "'Tis well nigh past man's search their hearts to see;", "Whether they wept, or laugh'd, or griev'd, or toy'd--", "Most like with joy gone mad, with sorrow cloy'd.", "", " Full facing their swift flight, from ebon streak,", "The moon put forth a little diamond peak,", "No bigger than an unobserved star,", "Or tiny point of fairy scymetar;", "Bright signal that she only stoop'd to tie", "Her silver sandals, ere deliciously", "She bow'd into the heavens her timid head.", "Slowly she rose, as though she would have fled,", "While to his lady meek the Carian turn'd,", "To mark if her dark eyes had yet discern'd", "This beauty in its birth--Despair! despair!", "He saw her body fading gaunt and spare", "In the cold moonshine. Straight he seiz'd her wrist;", "It melted from his grasp: her hand he kiss'd,", "And, horror! kiss'd his own--he was alone.", "Her steed a little higher soar'd, and then", "Dropt hawkwise to the earth. There lies a den,", "Beyond the seeming confines of the space", "Made for the soul to wander in and trace", "Its own existence, of remotest glooms.", "Dark regions are around it, where the tombs", "Of buried griefs the spirit sees, but scarce", "One hour doth linger weeping, for the pierce", "Of new-born woe it feels more inly smart:", "And in these regions many a venom'd dart", "At random flies; they are the proper home", "Of every ill: the man is yet to come", "Who hath not journeyed in this native hell.", "But few have ever felt how calm and well", "Sleep may be had in that deep den of all.", "There anguish does not sting; nor pleasure pall:", "Woe-hurricanes beat ever at the gate,", "Yet all is still within and desolate.", "Beset with painful gusts, within ye hear", "No sound so loud as when on curtain'd bier", "The death-watch tick is stifled. Enter none", "Who strive therefore: on the sudden it is won.", "Just when the sufferer begins to burn,", "Then it is free to him; and from an urn,", "Still fed by melting ice, he takes a draught--", "Young Semele such richness never quaft", "In her maternal longing. Happy gloom!", "Dark Paradise! where pale becomes the bloom", "Of health by due; where silence dreariest", "Is most articulate; where hopes infest;", "Where those eyes are the brightest far that keep", "Their lids shut longest in a dreamless sleep.", "O happy spirit-home! O wondrous soul!", "Pregnant with such a den to save the whole", "In thine own depth. Hail, gentle Carian!", "For, never since thy griefs and woes began,", "Hast thou felt so content: a grievous feud", "Hath let thee to this Cave of Quietude.", "Aye, his lull'd soul was there, although upborne", "With dangerous speed: and so he did not mourn", "Because he knew not whither he was going.", "So happy was he, not the aerial blowing", "Of trumpets at clear parley from the east", "Could rouse from that fine relish, that high feast.", "They stung the feather'd horse: with fierce alarm", "He flapp'd towards the sound. Alas, no charm", "Could lift Endymion's head, or he had view'd", "A skyey mask, a pinion'd multitude,--", "And silvery was its passing: voices sweet", "Warbling the while as if to lull and greet", "The wanderer in his path. Thus warbled they,", "While past the vision went in bright array.", "", " \"Who, who from Dian's feast would be away?", "For all the golden bowers of the day", "Are empty left? Who, who away would be", "From Cynthia's wedding and festivity?", "Not Hesperus: lo! upon his silver wings", "He leans away for highest heaven and sings,", "Snapping his lucid fingers merrily!--", "Ah, Zephyrus! art here, and Flora too!", "Ye tender bibbers of the rain and dew,", "Young playmates of the rose and daffodil,", "Be careful, ere ye enter in, to fill", " Your baskets high", "With fennel green, and balm, and golden pines,", "Savory, latter-mint, and columbines,", "Cool parsley, basil sweet, and sunny thyme;", "Yea, every flower and leaf of every clime,", "All gather'd in the dewy morning: hie", " Away! fly, fly!--", "Crystalline brother of the belt of heaven,", "Aquarius! to whom king Jove has given", "Two liquid pulse streams 'stead of feather'd wings,", "Two fan-like fountains,--thine illuminings", " For Dian play:", "Dissolve the frozen purity of air;", "Let thy white shoulders silvery and bare", "Shew cold through watery pinions; make more bright", "The Star-Queen's crescent on her marriage night:", " Haste, haste away!--", "Castor has tamed the planet Lion, see!", "And of the Bear has Pollux mastery:", "A third is in the race! who is the third,", "Speeding away swift as the eagle bird?", " The ramping Centaur!", "The Lion's mane's on end: the Bear how fierce!", "The Centaur's arrow ready seems to pierce", "Some enemy: far forth his bow is bent", "Into the blue of heaven. He'll be shent,", " Pale unrelentor,", "When he shall hear the wedding lutes a playing.--", "Andromeda! sweet woman! why delaying", "So timidly among the stars: come hither!", "Join this bright throng, and nimbly follow whither", " They all are going.", "Danae's Son, before Jove newly bow'd,", "Has wept for thee, calling to Jove aloud.", "Thee, gentle lady, did he disenthral:", "Ye shall for ever live and love, for all", " Thy tears are flowing.--", "By Daphne's fright, behold Apollo!--\"", "", " More", "Endymion heard not: down his steed him bore,", "Prone to the green head of a misty hill.", "", " His first touch of the earth went nigh to kill.", "\"Alas!\" said he, \"were I but always borne", "Through dangerous winds, had but my footsteps worn", "A path in hell, for ever would I bless", "Horrors which nourish an uneasiness", "For my own sullen conquering: to him", "Who lives beyond earth's boundary, grief is dim,", "Sorrow is but a shadow: now I see", "The grass; I feel the solid ground--Ah, me!", "It is thy voice--divinest! Where?--who? who", "Left thee so quiet on this bed of dew?", "Behold upon this happy earth we are;", "Let us ay love each other; let us fare", "On forest-fruits, and never, never go", "Among the abodes of mortals here below,", "Or be by phantoms duped. O destiny!", "Into a labyrinth now my soul would fly,", "But with thy beauty will I deaden it.", "Where didst thou melt too? By thee will I sit", "For ever: let our fate stop here--a kid", "I on this spot will offer: Pan will bid", "Us live in peace, in love and peace among", "His forest wildernesses. I have clung", "To nothing, lov'd a nothing, nothing seen", "Or felt but a great dream! O I have been", "Presumptuous against love, against the sky,", "Against all elements, against the tie", "Of mortals each to each, against the blooms", "Of flowers, rush of rivers, and the tombs", "Of heroes gone! Against his proper glory", "Has my own soul conspired: so my story", "Will I to children utter, and repent.", "There never liv'd a mortal man, who bent", "His appetite beyond his natural sphere,", "But starv'd and died. My sweetest Indian, here,", "Here will I kneel, for thou redeemed hast", "My life from too thin breathing: gone and past", "Are cloudy phantasms. Caverns lone, farewel!", "And air of visions, and the monstrous swell", "Of visionary seas! No, never more", "Shall airy voices cheat me to the shore", "Of tangled wonder, breathless and aghast.", "Adieu, my daintiest Dream! although so vast", "My love is still for thee. The hour may come", "When we shall meet in pure elysium.", "On earth I may not love thee; and therefore", "Doves will I offer up, and sweetest store", "All through the teeming year: so thou wilt shine", "On me, and on this damsel fair of mine,", "And bless our simple lives. My Indian bliss!", "My river-lily bud! one human kiss!", "One sigh of real breath--one gentle squeeze,", "Warm as a dove's nest among summer trees,", "And warm with dew at ooze from living blood!", "Whither didst melt? Ah, what of that!--all good", "We'll talk about--no more of dreaming.--Now,", "Where shall our dwelling be? Under the brow", "Of some steep mossy hill, where ivy dun", "Would hide us up, although spring leaves were none;", "And where dark yew trees, as we rustle through,", "Will drop their scarlet berry cups of dew?", "O thou wouldst joy to live in such a place;", "Dusk for our loves, yet light enough to grace", "Those gentle limbs on mossy bed reclin'd:", "For by one step the blue sky shouldst thou find,", "And by another, in deep dell below,", "See, through the trees, a little river go", "All in its mid-day gold and glimmering.", "Honey from out the gnarled hive I'll bring,", "And apples, wan with sweetness, gather thee,--", "Cresses that grow where no man may them see,", "And sorrel untorn by the dew-claw'd stag:", "Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag,", "That thou mayst always know whither I roam,", "When it shall please thee in our quiet home", "To listen and think of love. Still let me speak;", "Still let me dive into the joy I seek,--", "For yet the past doth prison me. The rill,", "Thou haply mayst delight in, will I fill", "With fairy fishes from the mountain tarn,", "And thou shalt feed them from the squirrel's barn.", "Its bottom will I strew with amber shells,", "And pebbles blue from deep enchanted wells.", "Its sides I'll plant with dew-sweet eglantine,", "And honeysuckles full of clear bee-wine.", "I will entice this crystal rill to trace", "Love's silver name upon the meadow's face.", "I'll kneel to Vesta, for a flame of fire;", "And to god Phoebus, for a golden lyre;", "To Empress Dian, for a hunting spear;", "To Vesper, for a taper silver-clear,", "That I may see thy beauty through the night;", "To Flora, and a nightingale shall light", "Tame on thy finger; to the River-gods,", "And they shall bring thee taper fishing-rods", "Of gold, and lines of Naiads' long bright tress.", "Heaven shield thee for thine utter loveliness!", "Thy mossy footstool shall the altar be", "'Fore which I'll bend, bending, dear love, to thee:", "Those lips shall be my Delphos, and shall speak", "Laws to my footsteps, colour to my cheek,", "Trembling or stedfastness to this same voice,", "And of three sweetest pleasurings the choice:", "And that affectionate light, those diamond things,", "Those eyes, those passions, those supreme pearl springs,", "Shall be my grief, or twinkle me to pleasure.", "Say, is not bliss within our perfect seisure?", "O that I could not doubt?\"", "", " The mountaineer", "Thus strove by fancies vain and crude to clear", "His briar'd path to some tranquillity.", "It gave bright gladness to his lady's eye,", "And yet the tears she wept were tears of sorrow;", "Answering thus, just as the golden morrow", "Beam'd upward from the vallies of the east:", "\"O that the flutter of this heart had ceas'd,", "Or the sweet name of love had pass'd away.", "Young feather'd tyrant! by a swift decay", "Wilt thou devote this body to the earth:", "And I do think that at my very birth", "I lisp'd thy blooming titles inwardly;", "For at the first, first dawn and thought of thee,", "With uplift hands I blest the stars of heaven.", "Art thou not cruel? Ever have I striven", "To think thee kind, but ah, it will not do!", "When yet a child, I heard that kisses drew", "Favour from thee, and so I kisses gave", "To the void air, bidding them find out love:", "But when I came to feel how far above", "All fancy, pride, and fickle maidenhood,", "All earthly pleasure, all imagin'd good,", "Was the warm tremble of a devout kiss,--", "Even then, that moment, at the thought of this,", "Fainting I fell into a bed of flowers,", "And languish'd there three days. Ye milder powers,", "Am I not cruelly wrong'd? Believe, believe", "Me, dear Endymion, were I to weave", "With my own fancies garlands of sweet life,", "Thou shouldst be one of all. Ah, bitter strife!", "I may not be thy love: I am forbidden--", "Indeed I am--thwarted, affrighted, chidden,", "By things I trembled at, and gorgon wrath.", "Twice hast thou ask'd whither I went: henceforth", "Ask me no more! I may not utter it,", "Nor may I be thy love. We might commit", "Ourselves at once to vengeance; we might die;", "We might embrace and die: voluptuous thought!", "Enlarge not to my hunger, or I'm caught", "In trammels of perverse deliciousness.", "No, no, that shall not be: thee will I bless,", "And bid a long adieu.\"", "", " The Carian", "No word return'd: both lovelorn, silent, wan,", "Into the vallies green together went.", "Far wandering, they were perforce content", "To sit beneath a fair lone beechen tree;", "Nor at each other gaz'd, but heavily", "Por'd on its hazle cirque of shedded leaves.", "", " Endymion! unhappy! it nigh grieves", "Me to behold thee thus in last extreme:", "Ensky'd ere this, but truly that I deem", "Truth the best music in a first-born song.", "Thy lute-voic'd brother will I sing ere long,", "And thou shalt aid--hast thou not aided me?", "Yes, moonlight Emperor! felicity", "Has been thy meed for many thousand years;", "Yet often have I, on the brink of tears,", "Mourn'd as if yet thou wert a forester,--", "Forgetting the old tale.", "", " He did not stir", "His eyes from the dead leaves, or one small pulse", "Of joy he might have felt. The spirit culls", "Unfaded amaranth, when wild it strays", "Through the old garden-ground of boyish days.", "A little onward ran the very stream", "By which he took his first soft poppy dream;", "And on the very bark 'gainst which he leant", "A crescent he had carv'd, and round it spent", "His skill in little stars. The teeming tree", "Had swollen and green'd the pious charactery,", "But not ta'en out. Why, there was not a slope", "Up which he had not fear'd the antelope;", "And not a tree, beneath whose rooty shade", "He had not with his tamed leopards play'd.", "Nor could an arrow light, or javelin,", "Fly in the air where his had never been--", "And yet he knew it not.", "", " O treachery!", "Why does his lady smile, pleasing her eye", "With all his sorrowing? He sees her not.", "But who so stares on him? His sister sure!", "Peona of the woods!--Can she endure--", "Impossible--how dearly they embrace!", "His lady smiles; delight is in her face;", "It is no treachery.", "", " \"Dear brother mine!", "Endymion, weep not so! Why shouldst thou pine", "When all great Latmos so exalt wilt be?", "Thank the great gods, and look not bitterly;", "And speak not one pale word, and sigh no more.", "Sure I will not believe thou hast such store", "Of grief, to last thee to my kiss again.", "Thou surely canst not bear a mind in pain,", "Come hand in hand with one so beautiful.", "Be happy both of you! for I will pull", "The flowers of autumn for your coronals.", "Pan's holy priest for young Endymion calls;", "And when he is restor'd, thou, fairest dame,", "Shalt be our queen. Now, is it not a shame", "To see ye thus,--not very, very sad?", "Perhaps ye are too happy to be glad:", "O feel as if it were a common day;", "Free-voic'd as one who never was away.", "No tongue shall ask, whence come ye? but ye shall", "Be gods of your own rest imperial.", "Not even I, for one whole month, will pry", "Into the hours that have pass'd us by,", "Since in my arbour I did sing to thee.", "O Hermes! on this very night will be", "A hymning up to Cynthia, queen of light;", "For the soothsayers old saw yesternight", "Good visions in the air,--whence will befal,", "As say these sages, health perpetual", "To shepherds and their flocks; and furthermore,", "In Dian's face they read the gentle lore:", "Therefore for her these vesper-carols are.", "Our friends will all be there from nigh and far.", "Many upon thy death have ditties made;", "And many, even now, their foreheads shade", "With cypress, on a day of sacrifice.", "New singing for our maids shalt thou devise,", "And pluck the sorrow from our huntsmen's brows.", "Tell me, my lady-queen, how to espouse", "This wayward brother to his rightful joys!", "His eyes are on thee bent, as thou didst poise", "His fate most goddess-like. Help me, I pray,", "To lure--Endymion, dear brother, say", "What ails thee?\" He could bear no more, and so", "Bent his soul fiercely like a spiritual bow,", "And twang'd it inwardly, and calmly said:", "\"I would have thee my only friend, sweet maid!", "My only visitor! not ignorant though,", "That those deceptions which for pleasure go", "'Mong men, are pleasures real as real may be:", "But there are higher ones I may not see,", "If impiously an earthly realm I take.", "Since I saw thee, I have been wide awake", "Night after night, and day by day, until", "Of the empyrean I have drunk my fill.", "Let it content thee, Sister, seeing me", "More happy than betides mortality.", "A hermit young, I'll live in mossy cave,", "Where thou alone shalt come to me, and lave", "Thy spirit in the wonders I shall tell.", "Through me the shepherd realm shall prosper well;", "For to thy tongue will I all health confide.", "And, for my sake, let this young maid abide", "With thee as a dear sister. Thou alone,", "Peona, mayst return to me. I own", "This may sound strangely: but when, dearest girl,", "Thou seest it for my happiness, no pearl", "Will trespass down those cheeks. Companion fair!", "Wilt be content to dwell with her, to share", "This sister's love with me?\" Like one resign'd", "And bent by circumstance, and thereby blind", "In self-commitment, thus that meek unknown:", "\"Aye, but a buzzing by my ears has flown,", "Of jubilee to Dian:--truth I heard!", "Well then, I see there is no little bird,", "Tender soever, but is Jove's own care.", "Long have I sought for rest, and, unaware,", "Behold I find it! so exalted too!", "So after my own heart! I knew, I knew", "There was a place untenanted in it:", "In that same void white Chastity shall sit,", "And monitor me nightly to lone slumber.", "With sanest lips I vow me to the number", "Of Dian's sisterhood; and, kind lady,", "With thy good help, this very night shall see", "My future days to her fane consecrate.\"", "", " As feels a dreamer what doth most create", "His own particular fright, so these three felt:", "Or like one who, in after ages, knelt", "To Lucifer or Baal, when he'd pine", "After a little sleep: or when in mine", "Far under-ground, a sleeper meets his friends", "Who know him not. Each diligently bends", "Towards common thoughts and things for very fear;", "Striving their ghastly malady to cheer,", "By thinking it a thing of yes and no,", "That housewives talk of. But the spirit-blow", "Was struck, and all were dreamers. At the last", "Endymion said: \"Are not our fates all cast?", "Why stand we here? Adieu, ye tender pair!", "Adieu!\" Whereat those maidens, with wild stare,", "Walk'd dizzily away. Pained and hot", "His eyes went after them, until they got", "Near to a cypress grove, whose deadly maw,", "In one swift moment, would what then he saw", "Engulph for ever. \"Stay!\" he cried, \"ah, stay!", "Turn, damsels! hist! one word I have to say.", "Sweet Indian, I would see thee once again.", "It is a thing I dote on: so I'd fain,", "Peona, ye should hand in hand repair", "Into those holy groves, that silent are", "Behind great Dian's temple. I'll be yon,", "At vesper's earliest twinkle--they are gone--", "But once, once, once again--\" At this he press'd", "His hands against his face, and then did rest", "His head upon a mossy hillock green,", "And so remain'd as he a corpse had been", "All the long day; save when he scantly lifted", "His eyes abroad, to see how shadows shifted", "With the slow move of time,--sluggish and weary", "Until the poplar tops, in journey dreary,", "Had reach'd the river's brim. Then up he rose,", "And, slowly as that very river flows,", "Walk'd towards the temple grove with this lament:", "\"Why such a golden eve? The breeze is sent", "Careful and soft, that not a leaf may fall", "Before the serene father of them all", "Bows down his summer head below the west.", "Now am I of breath, speech, and speed possest,", "But at the setting I must bid adieu", "To her for the last time. Night will strew", "On the damp grass myriads of lingering leaves,", "And with them shall I die; nor much it grieves", "To die, when summer dies on the cold sward.", "Why, I have been a butterfly, a lord", "Of flowers, garlands, love-knots, silly posies,", "Groves, meadows, melodies, and arbour roses;", "My kingdom's at its death, and just it is", "That I should die with it: so in all this", "We miscal grief, bale, sorrow, heartbreak, woe,", "What is there to plain of? By Titan's foe", "I am but rightly serv'd.\" So saying, he", "Tripp'd lightly on, in sort of deathful glee;", "Laughing at the clear stream and setting sun,", "As though they jests had been: nor had he done", "His laugh at nature's holy countenance,", "Until that grove appear'd, as if perchance,", "And then his tongue with sober seemlihed", "Gave utterance as he entered: \"Ha!\" I said,", "\"King of the butterflies; but by this gloom,", "And by old Rhadamanthus' tongue of doom,", "This dusk religion, pomp of solitude,", "And the Promethean clay by thief endued,", "By old Saturnus' forelock, by his head", "Shook with eternal palsy, I did wed", "Myself to things of light from infancy;", "And thus to be cast out, thus lorn to die,", "Is sure enough to make a mortal man", "Grow impious.\" So he inwardly began", "On things for which no wording can be found;", "Deeper and deeper sinking, until drown'd", "Beyond the reach of music: for the choir", "Of Cynthia he heard not, though rough briar", "Nor muffling thicket interpos'd to dull", "The vesper hymn, far swollen, soft and full,", "Through the dark pillars of those sylvan aisles.", "He saw not the two maidens, nor their smiles,", "Wan as primroses gather'd at midnight", "By chilly finger'd spring. \"Unhappy wight!", "Endymion!\" said Peona, \"we are here!", "What wouldst thou ere we all are laid on bier?\"", "Then he embrac'd her, and his lady's hand", "Press'd, saying:\" Sister, I would have command,", "If it were heaven's will, on our sad fate.\"", "At which that dark-eyed stranger stood elate", "And said, in a new voice, but sweet as love,", "To Endymion's amaze: \"By Cupid's dove,", "And so thou shalt! and by the lily truth", "Of my own breast thou shalt, beloved youth!\"", "And as she spake, into her face there came", "Light, as reflected from a silver flame:", "Her long black hair swell'd ampler, in display", "Full golden; in her eyes a brighter day", "Dawn'd blue and full of love. Aye, he beheld", "Phoebe, his passion! joyous she upheld", "Her lucid bow, continuing thus; \"Drear, drear", "Has our delaying been; but foolish fear", "Withheld me first; and then decrees of fate;", "And then 'twas fit that from this mortal state", "Thou shouldst, my love, by some unlook'd for change", "Be spiritualiz'd. Peona, we shall range", "These forests, and to thee they safe shall be", "As was thy cradle; hither shalt thou flee", "To meet us many a time.\" Next Cynthia bright", "Peona kiss'd, and bless'd with fair good night:", "Her brother kiss'd her too, and knelt adown", "Before his goddess, in a blissful swoon.", "She gave her fair hands to him, and behold,", "Before three swiftest kisses he had told,", "They vanish'd far away!--Peona went", "Home through the gloomy wood in wonderment." ], "linecount": "1010" }, { "title": "Endymion: Book I", "author": "John Keats", "lines": [ "ENDYMION.", "", "A Poetic Romance.", "", "\"THE STRETCHED METRE OF AN AN ANTIQUE SONG.\"", "INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS CHATTERTON.", "", "", "Book I", "", "", "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:", "Its loveliness increases; it will never", "Pass into nothingness; but still will keep", "A bower quiet for us, and a sleep", "Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.", "Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing", "A flowery band to bind us to the earth,", "Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth", "Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,", "Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways", "Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,", "Some shape of beauty moves away the pall", "From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,", "Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon", "For simple sheep; and such are daffodils", "With the green world they live in; and clear rills", "That for themselves a cooling covert make", "'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,", "Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:", "And such too is the grandeur of the dooms", "We have imagined for the mighty dead;", "All lovely tales that we have heard or read:", "An endless fountain of immortal drink,", "Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.", "", " Nor do we merely feel these essences", "For one short hour; no, even as the trees", "That whisper round a temple become soon", "Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon,", "The passion poesy, glories infinite,", "Haunt us till they become a cheering light", "Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,", "That, whether there be shine, or gloom o'ercast,", "They alway must be with us, or we die.", "", " Therefore, 'tis with full happiness that I", "Will trace the story of Endymion.", "The very music of the name has gone", "Into my being, and each pleasant scene", "Is growing fresh before me as the green", "Of our own vallies: so I will begin", "Now while I cannot hear the city's din;", "Now while the early budders are just new,", "And run in mazes of the youngest hue", "About old forests; while the willow trails", "Its delicate amber; and the dairy pails", "Bring home increase of milk. And, as the year", "Grows lush in juicy stalks, I'll smoothly steer", "My little boat, for many quiet hours,", "With streams that deepen freshly into bowers.", "Many and many a verse I hope to write,", "Before the daisies, vermeil rimm'd and white,", "Hide in deep herbage; and ere yet the bees", "Hum about globes of clover and sweet peas,", "I must be near the middle of my story.", "O may no wintry season, bare and hoary,", "See it half finished: but let Autumn bold,", "With universal tinge of sober gold,", "Be all about me when I make an end.", "And now at once, adventuresome, I send", "My herald thought into a wilderness:", "There let its trumpet blow, and quickly dress", "My uncertain path with green, that I may speed", "Easily onward, thorough flowers and weed.", "", " Upon the sides of Latmos was outspread", "A mighty forest; for the moist earth fed", "So plenteously all weed-hidden roots", "Into o'er-hanging boughs, and precious fruits.", "And it had gloomy shades, sequestered deep,", "Where no man went; and if from shepherd's keep", "A lamb strayed far a-down those inmost glens,", "Never again saw he the happy pens", "Whither his brethren, bleating with content,", "Over the hills at every nightfall went.", "Among the shepherds, 'twas believed ever,", "That not one fleecy lamb which thus did sever", "From the white flock, but pass'd unworried", "By angry wolf, or pard with prying head,", "Until it came to some unfooted plains", "Where fed the herds of Pan: ay great his gains", "Who thus one lamb did lose. Paths there were many,", "Winding through palmy fern, and rushes fenny,", "And ivy banks; all leading pleasantly", "To a wide lawn, whence one could only see", "Stems thronging all around between the swell", "Of turf and slanting branches: who could tell", "The freshness of the space of heaven above,", "Edg'd round with dark tree tops? through which a dove", "Would often beat its wings, and often too", "A little cloud would move across the blue.", "", " Full in the middle of this pleasantness", "There stood a marble altar, with a tress", "Of flowers budded newly; and the dew", "Had taken fairy phantasies to strew", "Daisies upon the sacred sward last eve,", "And so the dawned light in pomp receive.", "For 'twas the morn: Apollo's upward fire", "Made every eastern cloud a silvery pyre", "Of brightness so unsullied, that therein", "A melancholy spirit well might win", "Oblivion, and melt out his essence fine", "Into the winds: rain-scented eglantine", "Gave temperate sweets to that well-wooing sun;", "The lark was lost in him; cold springs had run", "To warm their chilliest bubbles in the grass;", "Man's voice was on the mountains; and the mass", "Of nature's lives and wonders puls'd tenfold,", "To feel this sun-rise and its glories old.", "", " Now while the silent workings of the dawn", "Were busiest, into that self-same lawn", "All suddenly, with joyful cries, there sped", "A troop of little children garlanded;", "Who gathering round the altar, seemed to pry", "Earnestly round as wishing to espy", "Some folk of holiday: nor had they waited", "For many moments, ere their ears were sated", "With a faint breath of music, which ev'n then", "Fill'd out its voice, and died away again.", "Within a little space again it gave", "Its airy swellings, with a gentle wave,", "To light-hung leaves, in smoothest echoes breaking", "Through copse-clad vallies,--ere their death, oer-taking", "The surgy murmurs of the lonely sea.", "", " And now, as deep into the wood as we", "Might mark a lynx's eye, there glimmered light", "Fair faces and a rush of garments white,", "Plainer and plainer shewing, till at last", "Into the widest alley they all past,", "Making directly for the woodland altar.", "O kindly muse! let not my weak tongue faulter", "In telling of this goodly company,", "Of their old piety, and of their glee:", "But let a portion of ethereal dew", "Fall on my head, and presently unmew", "My soul; that I may dare, in wayfaring,", "To stammer where old Chaucer used to sing.", "", " Leading the way, young damsels danced along,", "Bearing the burden of a shepherd song;", "Each having a white wicker over brimm'd", "With April's tender younglings: next, well trimm'd,", "A crowd of shepherds with as sunburnt looks", "As may be read of in Arcadian books;", "Such as sat listening round Apollo's pipe,", "When the great deity, for earth too ripe,", "Let his divinity o'er-flowing die", "In music, through the vales of Thessaly:", "Some idly trailed their sheep-hooks on the ground,", "And some kept up a shrilly mellow sound", "With ebon-tipped flutes: close after these,", "Now coming from beneath the forest trees,", "A venerable priest full soberly,", "Begirt with ministring looks: alway his eye", "Stedfast upon the matted turf he kept,", "And after him his sacred vestments swept.", "From his right hand there swung a vase, milk-white,", "Of mingled wine, out-sparkling generous light;", "And in his left he held a basket full", "Of all sweet herbs that searching eye could cull:", "Wild thyme, and valley-lilies whiter still", "Than Leda's love, and cresses from the rill.", "His aged head, crowned with beechen wreath,", "Seem'd like a poll of ivy in the teeth", "Of winter hoar. Then came another crowd", "Of shepherds, lifting in due time aloud", "Their share of the ditty. After them appear'd,", "Up-followed by a multitude that rear'd", "Their voices to the clouds, a fair wrought car,", "Easily rolling so as scarce to mar", "The freedom of three steeds of dapple brown:", "Who stood therein did seem of great renown", "Among the throng. His youth was fully blown,", "Shewing like Ganymede to manhood grown;", "And, for those simple times, his garments were", "A chieftain king's: beneath his breast, half bare,", "Was hung a silver bugle, and between", "His nervy knees there lay a boar-spear keen.", "A smile was on his countenance; he seem'd,", "To common lookers on, like one who dream'd", "Of idleness in groves Elysian:", "But there were some who feelingly could scan", "A lurking trouble in his nether lip,", "And see that oftentimes the reins would slip", "Through his forgotten hands: then would they sigh,", "And think of yellow leaves, of owlets cry,", "Of logs piled solemnly.--Ah, well-a-day,", "Why should our young Endymion pine away!", "", " Soon the assembly, in a circle rang'd,", "Stood silent round the shrine: each look was chang'd", "To sudden veneration: women meek", "Beckon'd their sons to silence; while each cheek", "Of virgin bloom paled gently for slight fear.", "Endymion too, without a forest peer,", "Stood, wan, and pale, and with an awed face,", "Among his brothers of the mountain chase.", "In midst of all, the venerable priest", "Eyed them with joy from greatest to the least,", "And, after lifting up his aged hands,", "Thus spake he: \"Men of Latmos! shepherd bands!", "Whose care it is to guard a thousand flocks:", "Whether descended from beneath the rocks", "That overtop your mountains; whether come", "From vallies where the pipe is never dumb;", "Or from your swelling downs, where sweet air stirs", "Blue hare-bells lightly, and where prickly furze", "Buds lavish gold; or ye, whose precious charge", "Nibble their fill at ocean's very marge,", "Whose mellow reeds are touch'd with sounds forlorn", "By the dim echoes of old Triton's horn:", "Mothers and wives! who day by day prepare", "The scrip, with needments, for the mountain air;", "And all ye gentle girls who foster up", "Udderless lambs, and in a little cup", "Will put choice honey for a favoured youth:", "Yea, every one attend! for in good truth", "Our vows are wanting to our great god Pan.", "Are not our lowing heifers sleeker than", "Night-swollen mushrooms? Are not our wide plains", "Speckled with countless fleeces? Have not rains", "Green'd over April's lap? No howling sad", "Sickens our fearful ewes; and we have had", "Great bounty from Endymion our lord.", "The earth is glad: the merry lark has pour'd", "His early song against yon breezy sky,", "That spreads so clear o'er our solemnity.\"", "", " Thus ending, on the shrine he heap'd a spire", "Of teeming sweets, enkindling sacred fire;", "Anon he stain'd the thick and spongy sod", "With wine, in honour of the shepherd-god.", "Now while the earth was drinking it, and while", "Bay leaves were crackling in the fragrant pile,", "And gummy frankincense was sparkling bright", "'Neath smothering parsley, and a hazy light", "Spread greyly eastward, thus a chorus sang:", "", " \"O THOU, whose mighty palace roof doth hang", "From jagged trunks, and overshadoweth", "Eternal whispers, glooms, the birth, life, death", "Of unseen flowers in heavy peacefulness;", "Who lov'st to see the hamadryads dress", "Their ruffled locks where meeting hazels darken;", "And through whole solemn hours dost sit, and hearken", "The dreary melody of bedded reeds--", "In desolate places, where dank moisture breeds", "The pipy hemlock to strange overgrowth;", "Bethinking thee, how melancholy loth", "Thou wast to lose fair Syrinx--do thou now,", "By thy love's milky brow!", "By all the trembling mazes that she ran,", "Hear us, great Pan!", "", " \"O thou, for whose soul-soothing quiet, turtles", "Passion their voices cooingly 'mong myrtles,", "What time thou wanderest at eventide", "Through sunny meadows, that outskirt the side", "Of thine enmossed realms: O thou, to whom", "Broad leaved fig trees even now foredoom", "Their ripen'd fruitage; yellow girted bees", "Their golden honeycombs; our village leas", "Their fairest-blossom'd beans and poppied corn;", "The chuckling linnet its five young unborn,", "To sing for thee; low creeping strawberries", "Their summer coolness; pent up butterflies", "Their freckled wings; yea, the fresh budding year", "All its completions--be quickly near,", "By every wind that nods the mountain pine,", "O forester divine!", "", " \"Thou, to whom every fawn and satyr flies", "For willing service; whether to surprise", "The squatted hare while in half sleeping fit;", "Or upward ragged precipices flit", "To save poor lambkins from the eagle's maw;", "Or by mysterious enticement draw", "Bewildered shepherds to their path again;", "Or to tread breathless round the frothy main,", "And gather up all fancifullest shells", "For thee to tumble into Naiads' cells,", "And, being hidden, laugh at their out-peeping;", "Or to delight thee with fantastic leaping,", "The while they pelt each other on the crown", "With silvery oak apples, and fir cones brown--", "By all the echoes that about thee ring,", "Hear us, O satyr king!", "", " \"O Hearkener to the loud clapping shears,", "While ever and anon to his shorn peers", "A ram goes bleating: Winder of the horn,", "When snouted wild-boars routing tender corn", "Anger our huntsman: Breather round our farms,", "To keep off mildews, and all weather harms:", "Strange ministrant of undescribed sounds,", "That come a swooning over hollow grounds,", "And wither drearily on barren moors:", "Dread opener of the mysterious doors", "Leading to universal knowledge--see,", "Great son of Dryope,", "The many that are come to pay their vows", "With leaves about their brows!", "", " Be still the unimaginable lodge", "For solitary thinkings; such as dodge", "Conception to the very bourne of heaven,", "Then leave the naked brain: be still the leaven,", "That spreading in this dull and clodded earth", "Gives it a touch ethereal--a new birth:", "Be still a symbol of immensity;", "A firmament reflected in a sea;", "An element filling the space between;", "An unknown--but no more: we humbly screen", "With uplift hands our foreheads, lowly bending,", "And giving out a shout most heaven rending,", "Conjure thee to receive our humble Paean,", "Upon thy Mount Lycean!", "", " Even while they brought the burden to a close,", "A shout from the whole multitude arose,", "That lingered in the air like dying rolls", "Of abrupt thunder, when Ionian shoals", "Of dolphins bob their noses through the brine.", "Meantime, on shady levels, mossy fine,", "Young companies nimbly began dancing", "To the swift treble pipe, and humming string.", "Aye, those fair living forms swam heavenly", "To tunes forgotten--out of memory:", "Fair creatures! whose young children's children bred", "Thermopylæ its heroes--not yet dead,", "But in old marbles ever beautiful.", "High genitors, unconscious did they cull", "Time's sweet first-fruits--they danc'd to weariness,", "And then in quiet circles did they press", "The hillock turf, and caught the latter end", "Of some strange history, potent to send", "A young mind from its bodily tenement.", "Or they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent", "On either side; pitying the sad death", "Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath", "Of Zephyr slew him,--Zephyr penitent,", "Who now, ere Phoebus mounts the firmament,", "Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain.", "The archers too, upon a wider plain,", "Beside the feathery whizzing of the shaft,", "And the dull twanging bowstring, and the raft", "Branch down sweeping from a tall ash top,", "Call'd up a thousand thoughts to envelope", "Those who would watch. Perhaps, the trembling knee", "And frantic gape of lonely Niobe,", "Poor, lonely Niobe! when her lovely young", "Were dead and gone, and her caressing tongue", "Lay a lost thing upon her paly lip,", "And very, very deadliness did nip", "Her motherly cheeks. Arous'd from this sad mood", "By one, who at a distance loud halloo'd,", "Uplifting his strong bow into the air,", "Many might after brighter visions stare:", "After the Argonauts, in blind amaze", "Tossing about on Neptune's restless ways,", "Until, from the horizon's vaulted side,", "There shot a golden splendour far and wide,", "Spangling those million poutings of the brine", "With quivering ore: 'twas even an awful shine", "From the exaltation of Apollo's bow;", "A heavenly beacon in their dreary woe.", "Who thus were ripe for high contemplating,", "Might turn their steps towards the sober ring", "Where sat Endymion and the aged priest", "'Mong shepherds gone in eld, whose looks increas'd", "The silvery setting of their mortal star.", "There they discours'd upon the fragile bar", "That keeps us from our homes ethereal;", "And what our duties there: to nightly call", "Vesper, the beauty-crest of summer weather;", "To summon all the downiest clouds together", "For the sun's purple couch; to emulate", "In ministring the potent rule of fate", "With speed of fire-tailed exhalations;", "To tint her pallid cheek with bloom, who cons", "Sweet poesy by moonlight: besides these,", "A world of other unguess'd offices.", "Anon they wander'd, by divine converse,", "Into Elysium; vieing to rehearse", "Each one his own anticipated bliss.", "One felt heart-certain that he could not miss", "His quick gone love, among fair blossom'd boughs,", "Where every zephyr-sigh pouts and endows", "Her lips with music for the welcoming.", "Another wish'd, mid that eternal spring,", "To meet his rosy child, with feathery sails,", "Sweeping, eye-earnestly, through almond vales:", "Who, suddenly, should stoop through the smooth wind,", "And with the balmiest leaves his temples bind;", "And, ever after, through those regions be", "His messenger, his little Mercury.", "Some were athirst in soul to see again", "Their fellow huntsmen o'er the wide champaign", "In times long past; to sit with them, and talk", "Of all the chances in their earthly walk;", "Comparing, joyfully, their plenteous stores", "Of happiness, to when upon the moors,", "Benighted, close they huddled from the cold,", "And shar'd their famish'd scrips. Thus all out-told", "Their fond imaginations,--saving him", "Whose eyelids curtain'd up their jewels dim,", "Endymion: yet hourly had he striven", "To hide the cankering venom, that had riven", "His fainting recollections. Now indeed", "His senses had swoon'd off: he did not heed", "The sudden silence, or the whispers low,", "Or the old eyes dissolving at his woe,", "Or anxious calls, or close of trembling palms,", "Or maiden's sigh, that grief itself embalms:", "But in the self-same fixed trance he kept,", "Like one who on the earth had never stept.", "Aye, even as dead-still as a marble man,", "Frozen in that old tale Arabian.", "", " Who whispers him so pantingly and close?", "Peona, his sweet sister: of all those,", "His friends, the dearest. Hushing signs she made,", "And breath'd a sister's sorrow to persuade", "A yielding up, a cradling on her care.", "Her eloquence did breathe away the curse:", "She led him, like some midnight spirit nurse", "Of happy changes in emphatic dreams,", "Along a path between two little streams,--", "Guarding his forehead, with her round elbow,", "From low-grown branches, and his footsteps slow", "From stumbling over stumps and hillocks small;", "Until they came to where these streamlets fall,", "With mingled bubblings and a gentle rush,", "Into a river, clear, brimful, and flush", "With crystal mocking of the trees and sky.", "A little shallop, floating there hard by,", "Pointed its beak over the fringed bank;", "And soon it lightly dipt, and rose, and sank,", "And dipt again, with the young couple's weight,--", "Peona guiding, through the water straight,", "Towards a bowery island opposite;", "Which gaining presently, she steered light", "Into a shady, fresh, and ripply cove,", "Where nested was an arbour, overwove", "By many a summer's silent fingering;", "To whose cool bosom she was used to bring", "Her playmates, with their needle broidery,", "And minstrel memories of times gone by.", "", " So she was gently glad to see him laid", "Under her favourite bower's quiet shade,", "On her own couch, new made of flower leaves,", "Dried carefully on the cooler side of sheaves", "When last the sun his autumn tresses shook,", "And the tann'd harvesters rich armfuls took.", "Soon was he quieted to slumbrous rest:", "But, ere it crept upon him, he had prest", "Peona's busy hand against his lips,", "And still, a sleeping, held her finger-tips", "In tender pressure. And as a willow keeps", "A patient watch over the stream that creeps", "Windingly by it, so the quiet maid", "Held her in peace: so that a whispering blade", "Of grass, a wailful gnat, a bee bustling", "Down in the blue-bells, or a wren light rustling", "Among seer leaves and twigs, might all be heard.", "", " O magic sleep! O comfortable bird,", "That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind", "Till it is hush'd and smooth! O unconfin'd", "Restraint! imprisoned liberty! great key", "To golden palaces, strange minstrelsy,", "Fountains grotesque, new trees, bespangled caves,", "Echoing grottos, full of tumbling waves", "And moonlight; aye, to all the mazy world", "Of silvery enchantment!--who, upfurl'd", "Beneath thy drowsy wing a triple hour,", "But renovates and lives?--Thus, in the bower,", "Endymion was calm'd to life again.", "Opening his eyelids with a healthier brain,", "He said: \"I feel this thine endearing love", "All through my bosom: thou art as a dove", "Trembling its closed eyes and sleeked wings", "About me; and the pearliest dew not brings", "Such morning incense from the fields of May,", "As do those brighter drops that twinkling stray", "From those kind eyes,--the very home and haunt", "Of sisterly affection. Can I want", "Aught else, aught nearer heaven, than such tears?", "Yet dry them up, in bidding hence all fears", "That, any longer, I will pass my days", "Alone and sad. No, I will once more raise", "My voice upon the mountain-heights; once more", "Make my horn parley from their foreheads hoar:", "Again my trooping hounds their tongues shall loll", "Around the breathed boar: again I'll poll", "The fair-grown yew tree, for a chosen bow:", "And, when the pleasant sun is getting low,", "Again I'll linger in a sloping mead", "To hear the speckled thrushes, and see feed", "Our idle sheep. So be thou cheered sweet,", "And, if thy lute is here, softly intreat", "My soul to keep in its resolved course.\"", "", " Hereat Peona, in their silver source,", "Shut her pure sorrow drops with glad exclaim,", "And took a lute, from which there pulsing came", "A lively prelude, fashioning the way", "In which her voice should wander. 'Twas a lay", "More subtle cadenced, more forest wild", "Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child;", "And nothing since has floated in the air", "So mournful strange. Surely some influence rare", "Went, spiritual, through the damsel's hand;", "For still, with Delphic emphasis, she spann'd", "The quick invisible strings, even though she saw", "Endymion's spirit melt away and thaw", "Before the deep intoxication.", "But soon she came, with sudden burst, upon", "Her self-possession--swung the lute aside,", "And earnestly said: \"Brother, 'tis vain to hide", "That thou dost know of things mysterious,", "Immortal, starry; such alone could thus", "Weigh down thy nature. Hast thou sinn'd in aught", "Offensive to the heavenly powers? Caught", "A Paphian dove upon a message sent?", "Thy deathful bow against some deer-herd bent,", "Sacred to Dian? Haply, thou hast seen", "Her naked limbs among the alders green;", "And that, alas! is death. No, I can trace", "Something more high perplexing in thy face!\"", "", " Endymion look'd at her, and press'd her hand,", "And said, \"Art thou so pale, who wast so bland", "And merry in our meadows? How is this?", "Tell me thine ailment: tell me all amiss!--", "Ah! thou hast been unhappy at the change", "Wrought suddenly in me. What indeed more strange?", "Or more complete to overwhelm surmise?", "Ambition is no sluggard: 'tis no prize,", "That toiling years would put within my grasp,", "That I have sigh'd for: with so deadly gasp", "No man e'er panted for a mortal love.", "So all have set my heavier grief above", "These things which happen. Rightly have they done:", "I, who still saw the horizontal sun", "Heave his broad shoulder o'er the edge of the world,", "Out-facing Lucifer, and then had hurl'd", "My spear aloft, as signal for the chace--", "I, who, for very sport of heart, would race", "With my own steed from Araby; pluck down", "A vulture from his towery perching; frown", "A lion into growling, loth retire--", "To lose, at once, all my toil breeding fire,", "And sink thus low! but I will ease my breast", "Of secret grief, here in this bowery nest.", "", " \"This river does not see the naked sky,", "Till it begins to progress silverly", "Around the western border of the wood,", "Whence, from a certain spot, its winding flood", "Seems at the distance like a crescent moon:", "And in that nook, the very pride of June,", "Had I been used to pass my weary eves;", "The rather for the sun unwilling leaves", "So dear a picture of his sovereign power,", "And I could witness his most kingly hour,", "When he doth lighten up the golden reins,", "And paces leisurely down amber plains", "His snorting four. Now when his chariot last", "Its beams against the zodiac-lion cast,", "There blossom'd suddenly a magic bed", "Of sacred ditamy, and poppies red:", "At which I wondered greatly, knowing well", "That but one night had wrought this flowery spell;", "And, sitting down close by, began to muse", "What it might mean. Perhaps, thought I, Morpheus,", "In passing here, his owlet pinions shook;", "Or, it may be, ere matron Night uptook", "Her ebon urn, young Mercury, by stealth,", "Had dipt his rod in it: such garland wealth", "Came not by common growth. Thus on I thought,", "Until my head was dizzy and distraught.", "Moreover, through the dancing poppies stole", "A breeze, most softly lulling to my soul;", "And shaping visions all about my sight", "Of colours, wings, and bursts of spangly light;", "The which became more strange, and strange, and dim,", "And then were gulph'd in a tumultuous swim:", "And then I fell asleep. Ah, can I tell", "The enchantment that afterwards befel?", "Yet it was but a dream: yet such a dream", "That never tongue, although it overteem", "With mellow utterance, like a cavern spring,", "Could figure out and to conception bring", "All I beheld and felt. Methought I lay", "Watching the zenith, where the milky way", "Among the stars in virgin splendour pours;", "And travelling my eye, until the doors", "Of heaven appear'd to open for my flight,", "I became loth and fearful to alight", "From such high soaring by a downward glance:", "So kept me stedfast in that airy trance,", "Spreading imaginary pinions wide.", "When, presently, the stars began to glide,", "And faint away, before my eager view:", "At which I sigh'd that I could not pursue,", "And dropt my vision to the horizon's verge;", "And lo! from opening clouds, I saw emerge", "The loveliest moon, that ever silver'd o'er", "A shell for Neptune's goblet: she did soar", "So passionately bright, my dazzled soul", "Commingling with her argent spheres did roll", "Through clear and cloudy, even when she went", "At last into a dark and vapoury tent--", "Whereat, methought, the lidless-eyed train", "Of planets all were in the blue again.", "To commune with those orbs, once more I rais'd", "My sight right upward: but it was quite dazed", "By a bright something, sailing down apace,", "Making me quickly veil my eyes and face:", "Again I look'd, and, O ye deities,", "Who from Olympus watch our destinies!", "Whence that completed form of all completeness?", "Whence came that high perfection of all sweetness?", "Speak, stubborn earth, and tell me where, O Where", "Hast thou a symbol of her golden hair?", "Not oat-sheaves drooping in the western sun;", "Not--thy soft hand, fair sister! let me shun", "Such follying before thee--yet she had,", "Indeed, locks bright enough to make me mad;", "And they were simply gordian'd up and braided,", "Leaving, in naked comeliness, unshaded,", "Her pearl round ears, white neck, and orbed brow;", "The which were blended in, I know not how,", "With such a paradise of lips and eyes,", "Blush-tinted cheeks, half smiles, and faintest sighs,", "That, when I think thereon, my spirit clings", "And plays about its fancy, till the stings", "Of human neighbourhood envenom all.", "Unto what awful power shall I call?", "To what high fane?--Ah! see her hovering feet,", "More bluely vein'd, more soft, more whitely sweet", "Than those of sea-born Venus, when she rose", "From out her cradle shell. The wind out-blows", "Her scarf into a fluttering pavilion;", "'Tis blue, and over-spangled with a million", "Of little eyes, as though thou wert to shed,", "Over the darkest, lushest blue-bell bed,", "Handfuls of daisies.\"--\"Endymion, how strange!", "Dream within dream!\"--\"She took an airy range,", "And then, towards me, like a very maid,", "Came blushing, waning, willing, and afraid,", "And press'd me by the hand: Ah! 'twas too much;", "Methought I fainted at the charmed touch,", "Yet held my recollection, even as one", "Who dives three fathoms where the waters run", "Gurgling in beds of coral: for anon,", "I felt upmounted in that region", "Where falling stars dart their artillery forth,", "And eagles struggle with the buffeting north", "That balances the heavy meteor-stone;--", "Felt too, I was not fearful, nor alone,", "But lapp'd and lull'd along the dangerous sky.", "Soon, as it seem'd, we left our journeying high,", "And straightway into frightful eddies swoop'd;", "Such as ay muster where grey time has scoop'd", "Huge dens and caverns in a mountain's side:", "There hollow sounds arous'd me, and I sigh'd", "To faint once more by looking on my bliss--", "I was distracted; madly did I kiss", "The wooing arms which held me, and did give", "My eyes at once to death: but 'twas to live,", "To take in draughts of life from the gold fount", "Of kind and passionate looks; to count, and count", "The moments, by some greedy help that seem'd", "A second self, that each might be redeem'd", "And plunder'd of its load of blessedness.", "Ah, desperate mortal! I ev'n dar'd to press", "Her very cheek against my crowned lip,", "And, at that moment, felt my body dip", "Into a warmer air: a moment more,", "Our feet were soft in flowers. There was store", "Of newest joys upon that alp. Sometimes", "A scent of violets, and blossoming limes,", "Loiter'd around us; then of honey cells,", "Made delicate from all white-flower bells;", "And once, above the edges of our nest,", "An arch face peep'd,--an Oread as I guess'd.", "", " \"Why did I dream that sleep o'er-power'd me", "In midst of all this heaven? Why not see,", "Far off, the shadows of his pinions dark,", "And stare them from me? But no, like a spark", "That needs must die, although its little beam", "Reflects upon a diamond, my sweet dream", "Fell into nothing--into stupid sleep.", "And so it was, until a gentle creep,", "A careful moving caught my waking ears,", "And up I started: Ah! my sighs, my tears,", "My clenched hands;--for lo! the poppies hung", "Dew-dabbled on their stalks, the ouzel sung", "A heavy ditty, and the sullen day", "Had chidden herald Hesperus away,", "With leaden looks: the solitary breeze", "Bluster'd, and slept, and its wild self did teaze", "With wayward melancholy; and r thought,", "Mark me, Peona! that sometimes it brought", "Faint fare-thee-wells, and sigh-shrilled adieus!--", "Away I wander'd--all the pleasant hues", "Of heaven and earth had faded: deepest shades", "Were deepest dungeons; heaths and sunny glades", "Were full of pestilent light; our taintless rills", "Seem'd sooty, and o'er-spread with upturn'd gills", "Of dying fish; the vermeil rose had blown", "In frightful scarlet, and its thorns out-grown", "Like spiked aloe. If an innocent bird", "Before my heedless footsteps stirr'd, and stirr'd", "In little journeys, I beheld in it", "A disguis'd demon, missioned to knit", "My soul with under darkness; to entice", "My stumblings down some monstrous precipice:", "Therefore I eager followed, and did curse", "The disappointment. Time, that aged nurse,", "Rock'd me to patience. Now, thank gentle heaven!", "These things, with all their comfortings, are given", "To my down-sunken hours, and with thee,", "Sweet sister, help to stem the ebbing sea", "Of weary life.\"", "", " Thus ended he, and both", "Sat silent: for the maid was very loth", "To answer; feeling well that breathed words", "Would all be lost, unheard, and vain as swords", "Against the enchased crocodile, or leaps", "Of grasshoppers against the sun. She weeps,", "And wonders; struggles to devise some blame;", "To put on such a look as would say, Shame", "On this poor weakness! but, for all her strife,", "She could as soon have crush'd away the life", "From a sick dove. At length, to break the pause,", "She said with trembling chance: \"Is this the cause?", "This all? Yet it is strange, and sad, alas!", "That one who through this middle earth should pass", "Most like a sojourning demi-god, and leave", "His name upon the harp-string, should achieve", "No higher bard than simple maidenhood,", "Singing alone, and fearfully,--how the blood", "Left his young cheek; and how he used to stray", "He knew not where; and how he would say, nay,", "If any said 'twas love: and yet 'twas love;", "What could it be but love? How a ring-dove", "Let fall a sprig of yew tree in his path;", "And how he died: and then, that love doth scathe,", "The gentle heart, as northern blasts do roses;", "And then the ballad of his sad life closes", "With sighs, and an alas!--Endymion!", "Be rather in the trumpet's mouth,--anon", "Among the winds at large--that all may hearken!", "Although, before the crystal heavens darken,", "I watch and dote upon the silver lakes", "Pictur'd in western cloudiness, that takes", "The semblance of gold rocks and bright gold sands,", "Islands, and creeks, and amber-fretted strands", "With horses prancing o'er them, palaces", "And towers of amethyst,--would I so tease", "My pleasant days, because I could not mount", "Into those regions? The Morphean fount", "Of that fine element that visions, dreams,", "And fitful whims of sleep are made of, streams", "Into its airy channels with so subtle,", "So thin a breathing, not the spider's shuttle,", "Circled a million times within the space", "Of a swallow's nest-door, could delay a trace,", "A tinting of its quality: how light", "Must dreams themselves be; seeing they're more slight", "Than the mere nothing that engenders them!", "Then wherefore sully the entrusted gem", "Of high and noble life with thoughts so sick?", "Why pierce high-fronted honour to the quick", "For nothing but a dream?\" Hereat the youth", "Look'd up: a conflicting of shame and ruth", "Was in his plaited brow: yet his eyelids", "Widened a little, as when Zephyr bids", "A little breeze to creep between the fans", "Of careless butterflies: amid his pains", "He seem'd to taste a drop of manna-dew,", "Full palatable; and a colour grew", "Upon his cheek, while thus he lifeful spake.", "", " \"Peona! ever have I long'd to slake", "My thirst for the world's praises: nothing base,", "No merely slumberous phantasm, could unlace", "The stubborn canvas for my voyage prepar'd--", "Though now 'tis tatter'd; leaving my bark bar'd", "And sullenly drifting: yet my higher hope", "Is of too wide, too rainbow-large a scope,", "To fret at myriads of earthly wrecks.", "Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks", "Our ready minds to fellowship divine,", "A fellowship with essence; till we shine,", "Full alchemiz'd, and free of space. Behold", "The clear religion of heaven! Fold", "A rose leaf round thy finger's taperness,", "And soothe thy lips: hist, when the airy stress", "Of music's kiss impregnates the free winds,", "And with a sympathetic touch unbinds", "Eolian magic from their lucid wombs:", "Then old songs waken from enclouded tombs;", "Old ditties sigh above their father's grave;", "Ghosts of melodious prophecyings rave", "Round every spot where trod Apollo's foot;", "Bronze clarions awake, and faintly bruit,", "Where long ago a giant battle was;", "And, from the turf, a lullaby doth pass", "In every place where infant Orpheus slept.", "Feel we these things?--that moment have we stept", "Into a sort of oneness, and our state", "Is like a floating spirit's. But there are", "Richer entanglements, enthralments far", "More self-destroying, leading, by degrees,", "To the chief intensity: the crown of these", "Is made of love and friendship, and sits high", "Upon the forehead of humanity.", "All its more ponderous and bulky worth", "Is friendship, whence there ever issues forth", "A steady splendour; but at the tip-top,", "There hangs by unseen film, an orbed drop", "Of light, and that is love: its influence,", "Thrown in our eyes, genders a novel sense,", "At which we start and fret; till in the end,", "Melting into its radiance, we blend,", "Mingle, and so become a part of it,--", "Nor with aught else can our souls interknit", "So wingedly: when we combine therewith,", "Life's self is nourish'd by its proper pith,", "And we are nurtured like a pelican brood.", "Aye, so delicious is the unsating food,", "That men, who might have tower'd in the van", "Of all the congregated world, to fan", "And winnow from the coming step of time", "All chaff of custom, wipe away all slime", "Left by men-slugs and human serpentry,", "Have been content to let occasion die,", "Whilst they did sleep in love's elysium.", "And, truly, I would rather be struck dumb,", "Than speak against this ardent listlessness:", "For I have ever thought that it might bless", "The world with benefits unknowingly;", "As does the nightingale, upperched high,", "And cloister'd among cool and bunched leaves--", "She sings but to her love, nor e'er conceives", "How tiptoe Night holds back her dark-grey hood.", "Just so may love, although 'tis understood", "The mere commingling of passionate breath,", "Produce more than our searching witnesseth:", "What I know not: but who, of men, can tell", "That flowers would bloom, or that green fruit would swell", "To melting pulp, that fish would have bright mail,", "The earth its dower of river, wood, and vale,", "The meadows runnels, runnels pebble-stones,", "The seed its harvest, or the lute its tones,", "Tones ravishment, or ravishment its sweet,", "If human souls did never kiss and greet?", "", " \"Now, if this earthly love has power to make", "Men's being mortal, immortal; to shake", "Ambition from their memories, and brim", "Their measure of content; what merest whim,", "Seems all this poor endeavour after fame,", "To one, who keeps within his stedfast aim", "A love immortal, an immortal too.", "Look not so wilder'd; for these things are true,", "And never can be born of atomies", "That buzz about our slumbers, like brain-flies,", "Leaving us fancy-sick. No, no, I'm sure,", "My restless spirit never could endure", "To brood so long upon one luxury,", "Unless it did, though fearfully, espy", "A hope beyond the shadow of a dream.", "My sayings will the less obscured seem,", "When I have told thee how my waking sight", "Has made me scruple whether that same night", "Was pass'd in dreaming. Hearken, sweet Peona!", "Beyond the matron-temple of Latona,", "Which we should see but for these darkening boughs,", "Lies a deep hollow, from whose ragged brows", "Bushes and trees do lean all round athwart,", "And meet so nearly, that with wings outraught,", "And spreaded tail, a vulture could not glide", "Past them, but he must brush on every side.", "Some moulder'd steps lead into this cool cell,", "Far as the slabbed margin of a well,", "Whose patient level peeps its crystal eye", "Right upward, through the bushes, to the sky.", "Oft have I brought thee flowers, on their stalks set", "Like vestal primroses, but dark velvet", "Edges them round, and they have golden pits:", "'Twas there I got them, from the gaps and slits", "In a mossy stone, that sometimes was my seat,", "When all above was faint with mid-day heat.", "And there in strife no burning thoughts to heed,", "I'd bubble up the water through a reed;", "So reaching back to boy-hood: make me ships", "Of moulted feathers, touchwood, alder chips,", "With leaves stuck in them; and the Neptune be", "Of their petty ocean. Oftener, heavily,", "When love-lorn hours had left me less a child,", "I sat contemplating the figures wild", "Of o'er-head clouds melting the mirror through.", "Upon a day, while thus I watch'd, by flew", "A cloudy Cupid, with his bow and quiver;", "So plainly character'd, no breeze would shiver", "The happy chance: so happy, I was fain", "To follow it upon the open plain,", "And, therefore, was just going; when, behold!", "A wonder, fair as any I have told--", "The same bright face I tasted in my sleep,", "Smiling in the clear well. My heart did leap", "Through the cool depth.--It moved as if to flee--", "I started up, when lo! refreshfully,", "There came upon my face, in plenteous showers,", "Dew-drops, and dewy buds, and leaves, and flowers,", "Wrapping all objects from my smothered sight,", "Bathing my spirit in a new delight.", "Aye, such a breathless honey-feel of bliss", "Alone preserved me from the drear abyss", "Of death, for the fair form had gone again.", "Pleasure is oft a visitant; but pain", "Clings cruelly to us, like the gnawing sloth", "On the deer's tender haunches: late, and loth,", "'Tis scar'd away by slow returning pleasure.", "How sickening, how dark the dreadful leisure", "Of weary days, made deeper exquisite,", "By a fore-knowledge of unslumbrous night!", "Like sorrow came upon me, heavier still,", "Than when I wander'd from the poppy hill:", "And a whole age of lingering moments crept", "Sluggishly by, ere more contentment swept", "Away at once the deadly yellow spleen.", "Yes, thrice have I this fair enchantment seen;", "Once more been tortured with renewed life.", "When last the wintry gusts gave over strife", "With the conquering sun of spring, and left the skies", "Warm and serene, but yet with moistened eyes", "In pity of the shatter'd infant buds,--", "That time thou didst adorn, with amber studs,", "My hunting cap, because I laugh'd and smil'd,", "Chatted with thee, and many days exil'd", "All torment from my breast;--'twas even then,", "Straying about, yet, coop'd up in the den", "Of helpless discontent,--hurling my lance", "From place to place, and following at chance,", "At last, by hap, through some young trees it struck,", "And, plashing among bedded pebbles, stuck", "In the middle of a brook,--whose silver ramble", "Down twenty little falls, through reeds and bramble,", "Tracing along, it brought me to a cave,", "Whence it ran brightly forth, and white did lave", "The nether sides of mossy stones and rock,--", "'Mong which it gurgled blythe adieus, to mock", "Its own sweet grief at parting. Overhead,", "Hung a lush screen of drooping weeds, and spread", "Thick, as to curtain up some wood-nymph's home.", "\"Ah! impious mortal, whither do I roam?\"", "Said I, low voic'd: \"Ah whither! 'Tis the grot", "Of Proserpine, when Hell, obscure and hot,", "Doth her resign; and where her tender hands", "She dabbles, on the cool and sluicy sands:", "Or 'tis the cell of Echo, where she sits,", "And babbles thorough silence, till her wits", "Are gone in tender madness, and anon,", "Faints into sleep, with many a dying tone", "Of sadness. O that she would take my vows,", "And breathe them sighingly among the boughs,", "To sue her gentle ears for whose fair head,", "Daily, I pluck sweet flowerets from their bed,", "And weave them dyingly--send honey-whispers", "Round every leaf, that all those gentle lispers", "May sigh my love unto her pitying!", "O charitable echo! hear, and sing", "This ditty to her!--tell her\"--so I stay'd", "My foolish tongue, and listening, half afraid,", "Stood stupefied with my own empty folly,", "And blushing for the freaks of melancholy.", "Salt tears were coming, when I heard my name", "Most fondly lipp'd, and then these accents came:", "‘Endymion! the cave is secreter", "Than the isle of Delos. Echo hence shall stir", "No sighs but sigh-warm kisses, or light noise", "Of thy combing hand, the while it travelling cloys", "And trembles through my labyrinthine hair.\"", "At that oppress'd I hurried in.--Ah! where", "Are those swift moments? Whither are they fled?", "I'll smile no more, Peona; nor will wed", "Sorrow the way to death, but patiently", "Bear up against it: so farewel, sad sigh;", "And come instead demurest meditation,", "To occupy me wholly, and to fashion", "My pilgrimage for the world's dusky brink.", "No more will I count over, link by link,", "My chain of grief: no longer strive to find", "A half-forgetfulness in mountain wind", "Blustering about my ears: aye, thou shalt see,", "Dearest of sisters, what my life shall be;", "What a calm round of hours shall make my days.", "There is a paly flame of hope that plays", "Where'er I look: but yet, I'll say 'tis naught--", "And here I bid it die. Have not I caught,", "Already, a more healthy countenance?", "By this the sun is setting; we may chance", "Meet some of our near-dwellers with my car.\"", "", " This said, he rose, faint-smiling like a star", "Through autumn mists, and took Peona's hand:", "They stept into the boat, and launch'd from land." ], "linecount": "998" }, { "title": "A Night-Rain in Summer", "author": "James Henry Leigh Hunt", "lines": [ "Open the window, and let the air", "Freshly blow upon face and hair,", "And fill the room, as it fills the night,", "With the breath of the rain's sweet might.", "Hark! the burthen, swift and prone!", "And how the odorous limes are blown!", "Stormy Love's abroad, and keeps", "Hopeful coil for gentle sleeps.", "", "Not a blink shall burn to-night", "In my chamber, of sordid light;", "Nought will I have, not a window-pane,", "'Twixt me and the air and the great good rain,", "Which ever shall sing me sharp lullabies;", "And God's own darkness shall close mine eyes;", "And I will sleep, with all things blest,", "In the pure earth-shadow of natural rest." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Air and Angels", "author": "John Donne", "lines": [ "Twice or thrice had I loved thee,", "Before I knew thy face or name,", "So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame,", "Angels affect us oft, and worship'd be;", "Still when, to where thou wert, I came,", "Some lovely glorious nothing I did see.", "But since my soul, whose child love is,", "Takes limbs of flesh, and else could nothing do,", "More subtile than the parent is,", "Love must not be, but take a body too,", "And therefore what thou wert, and who,", "I bid Love ask, and now", "That it assume thy body, I allow,", "And fix itself in thy lip, eye, and brow.", "", "Whilst thus to ballast love, I thought,", "And so more steadily to have gone,", "With wares which would sink admiration,", "I saw, I had love's pinnace overfraught,", "Ev'ry thy hair for love to work upon", "Is much too much, some fitter must be sought;", "For, nor in nothing, nor in things", "Extreme, and scatt'ring bright, can love inhere;", "Then as an Angel, face, and wings", "Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth wear,", "So thy love may be my loves sphere;", "Just such disparity", "As is twixt Air and Angels' purity,", "'Twixt women's love, and men's will ever be." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "Endymion: Book II", "author": "John Keats", "lines": [ "O Sovereign power of love! O grief! O balm!", "All records, saving thine, come cool, and calm,", "And shadowy, through the mist of passed years:", "For others, good or bad, hatred and tears", "Have become indolent; but touching thine,", "One sigh doth echo, one poor sob doth pine,", "One kiss brings honey-dew from buried days.", "The woes of Troy, towers smothering o'er their blaze,", "Stiff-holden shields, far-piercing spears, keen blades,", "Struggling, and blood, and shrieks--all dimly fades", "Into some backward corner of the brain;", "Yet, in our very souls, we feel amain", "The close of Troilus and Cressid sweet.", "Hence, pageant history! hence, gilded cheat!", "Swart planet in the universe of deeds!", "Wide sea, that one continuous murmur breeds", "Along the pebbled shore of memory!", "Many old rotten-timber'd boats there be", "Upon thy vaporous bosom, magnified", "To goodly vessels; many a sail of pride,", "And golden keel'd, is left unlaunch'd and dry.", "But wherefore this? What care, though owl did fly", "About the great Athenian admiral's mast?", "What care, though striding Alexander past", "The Indus with his Macedonian numbers?", "Though old Ulysses tortured from his slumbers", "The glutted Cyclops, what care?--Juliet leaning", "Amid her window-flowers,--sighing,--weaning", "Tenderly her fancy from its maiden snow,", "Doth more avail than these: the silver flow", "Of Hero's tears, the swoon of Imogen,", "Fair Pastorella in the bandit's den,", "Are things to brood on with more ardency", "Than the death-day of empires. Fearfully", "Must such conviction come upon his head,", "Who, thus far, discontent, has dared to tread,", "Without one muse's smile, or kind behest,", "The path of love and poesy. But rest,", "In chaffing restlessness, is yet more drear", "Than to be crush'd, in striving to uprear", "Love's standard on the battlements of song.", "So once more days and nights aid me along,", "Like legion'd soldiers.", "", " Brain-sick shepherd-prince,", "What promise hast thou faithful guarded since", "The day of sacrifice? Or, have new sorrows", "Come with the constant dawn upon thy morrows?", "Alas! 'tis his old grief. For many days,", "Has he been wandering in uncertain ways:", "Through wilderness, and woods of mossed oaks;", "Counting his woe-worn minutes, by the strokes", "Of the lone woodcutter; and listening still,", "Hour after hour, to each lush-leav'd rill.", "Now he is sitting by a shady spring,", "And elbow-deep with feverous fingering", "Stems the upbursting cold: a wild rose tree", "Pavilions him in bloom, and he doth see", "A bud which snares his fancy: lo! but now", "He plucks it, dips its stalk in the water: how!", "It swells, it buds, it flowers beneath his sight;", "And, in the middle, there is softly pight", "A golden butterfly; upon whose wings", "There must be surely character'd strange things,", "For with wide eye he wonders, and smiles oft.", "", " Lightly this little herald flew aloft,", "Follow'd by glad Endymion's clasped hands:", "Onward it flies. From languor's sullen bands", "His limbs are loos'd, and eager, on he hies", "Dazzled to trace it in the sunny skies.", "It seem'd he flew, the way so easy was;", "And like a new-born spirit did he pass", "Through the green evening quiet in the sun,", "O'er many a heath, through many a woodland dun,", "Through buried paths, where sleepy twilight dreams", "The summer time away. One track unseams", "A wooded cleft, and, far away, the blue", "Of ocean fades upon him; then, anew,", "He sinks adown a solitary glen,", "Where there was never sound of mortal men,", "Saving, perhaps, some snow-light cadences", "Melting to silence, when upon the breeze", "Some holy bark let forth an anthem sweet,", "To cheer itself to Delphi. Still his feet", "Went swift beneath the merry-winged guide,", "Until it reached a splashing fountain's side", "That, near a cavern's mouth, for ever pour'd", "Unto the temperate air: then high it soar'd,", "And, downward, suddenly began to dip,", "As if, athirst with so much toil, 'twould sip", "The crystal spout-head: so it did, with touch", "Most delicate, as though afraid to smutch", "Even with mealy gold the waters clear.", "But, at that very touch, to disappear", "So fairy-quick, was strange! Bewildered,", "Endymion sought around, and shook each bed", "Of covert flowers in vain; and then he flung", "Himself along the grass. What gentle tongue,", "What whisperer disturb'd his gloomy rest?", "It was a nymph uprisen to the breast", "In the fountain's pebbly margin, and she stood", "'Mong lilies, like the youngest of the brood.", "To him her dripping hand she softly kist,", "And anxiously began to plait and twist", "Her ringlets round her fingers, saying: \"Youth!", "Too long, alas, hast thou starv'd on the ruth,", "The bitterness of love: too long indeed,", "Seeing thou art so gentle. Could I weed", "Thy soul of care, by heavens, I would offer", "All the bright riches of my crystal coffer", "To Amphitrite; all my clear-eyed fish,", "Golden, or rainbow-sided, or purplish,", "Vermilion-tail'd, or finn'd with silvery gauze;", "Yea, or my veined pebble-floor, that draws", "A virgin light to the deep; my grotto-sands", "Tawny and gold, ooz'd slowly from far lands", "By my diligent springs; my level lilies, shells,", "My charming rod, my potent river spells;", "Yes, every thing, even to the pearly cup", "Meander gave me,--for I bubbled up", "To fainting creatures in a desert wild.", "But woe is me, I am but as a child", "To gladden thee; and all I dare to say,", "Is, that I pity thee; that on this day", "I've been thy guide; that thou must wander far", "In other regions, past the scanty bar", "To mortal steps, before thou cans't be ta'en", "From every wasting sigh, from every pain,", "Into the gentle bosom of thy love.", "Why it is thus, one knows in heaven above:", "But, a poor Naiad, I guess not. Farewel!", "I have a ditty for my hollow cell.\"", "", " Hereat, she vanished from Endymion's gaze,", "Who brooded o'er the water in amaze:", "The dashing fount pour'd on, and where its pool", "Lay, half asleep, in grass and rushes cool,", "Quick waterflies and gnats were sporting still,", "And fish were dimpling, as if good nor ill", "Had fallen out that hour. The wanderer,", "Holding his forehead, to keep off the burr", "Of smothering fancies, patiently sat down;", "And, while beneath the evening's sleepy frown", "Glow-worms began to trim their starry lamps,", "Thus breath'd he to himself: \"Whoso encamps", "To take a fancied city of delight,", "O what a wretch is he! and when 'tis his,", "After long toil and travelling, to miss", "The kernel of his hopes, how more than vile:", "Yet, for him there's refreshment even in toil;", "Another city doth he set about,", "Free from the smallest pebble-bead of doubt", "That he will seize on trickling honey-combs:", "Alas, he finds them dry; and then he foams,", "And onward to another city speeds.", "But this is human life: the war, the deeds,", "The disappointment, the anxiety,", "Imagination's struggles, far and nigh,", "All human; bearing in themselves this good,", "That they are sill the air, the subtle food,", "To make us feel existence, and to shew", "How quiet death is. Where soil is men grow,", "Whether to weeds or flowers; but for me,", "There is no depth to strike in: I can see", "Nought earthly worth my compassing; so stand", "Upon a misty, jutting head of land--", "Alone? No, no; and by the Orphean lute,", "When mad Eurydice is listening to 't;", "I'd rather stand upon this misty peak,", "With not a thing to sigh for, or to seek,", "But the soft shadow of my thrice-seen love,", "Than be--I care not what. O meekest dove", "Of heaven! O Cynthia, ten-times bright and fair!", "From thy blue throne, now filling all the air,", "Glance but one little beam of temper'd light", "Into my bosom, that the dreadful might", "And tyranny of love be somewhat scar'd!", "Yet do not so, sweet queen; one torment spar'd,", "Would give a pang to jealous misery,", "Worse than the torment's self: but rather tie", "Large wings upon my shoulders, and point out", "My love's far dwelling. Though the playful rout", "Of Cupids shun thee, too divine art thou,", "Too keen in beauty, for thy silver prow", "Not to have dipp'd in love's most gentle stream.", "O be propitious, nor severely deem", "My madness impious; for, by all the stars", "That tend thy bidding, I do think the bars", "That kept my spirit in are burst--that I", "Am sailing with thee through the dizzy sky!", "How beautiful thou art! The world how deep!", "How tremulous-dazzlingly the wheels sweep", "Around their axle! Then these gleaming reins,", "How lithe! When this thy chariot attains", "Is airy goal, haply some bower veils", "Those twilight eyes? Those eyes!--my spirit fails--", "Dear goddess, help! or the wide-gaping air", "Will gulph me--help!\"--At this with madden'd stare,", "And lifted hands, and trembling lips he stood;", "Like old Deucalion mountain'd o'er the flood,", "Or blind Orion hungry for the morn.", "And, but from the deep cavern there was borne", "A voice, he had been froze to senseless stone;", "Nor sigh of his, nor plaint, nor passion'd moan", "Had more been heard. Thus swell'd it forth: \"Descend,", "Young mountaineer! descend where alleys bend", "Into the sparry hollows of the world!", "Oft hast thou seen bolts of the thunder hurl'd", "As from thy threshold, day by day hast been", "A little lower than the chilly sheen", "Of icy pinnacles, and dipp'dst thine arms", "Into the deadening ether that still charms", "Their marble being: now, as deep profound", "As those are high, descend! He ne'er is crown'd", "With immortality, who fears to follow", "Where airy voices lead: so through the hollow,", "The silent mysteries of earth, descend!\"", "", " He heard but the last words, nor could contend", "One moment in reflection: for he fled", "Into the fearful deep, to hide his head", "From the clear moon, the trees, and coming madness.", "", " 'Twas far too strange, and wonderful for sadness;", "Sharpening, by degrees, his appetite", "To dive into the deepest. Dark, nor light,", "The region; nor bright, nor sombre wholly,", "But mingled up; a gleaming melancholy;", "A dusky empire and its diadems;", "One faint eternal eventide of gems.", "Aye, millions sparkled on a vein of gold,", "Along whose track the prince quick footsteps told,", "With all its lines abrupt and angular:", "Out-shooting sometimes, like a meteor-star,", "Through a vast antre; then the metal woof,", "Like Vulcan's rainbow, with some monstrous roof", "Curves hugely: now, far in the deep abyss,", "It seems an angry lightning, and doth hiss", "Fancy into belief: anon it leads", "Through winding passages, where sameness breeds", "Vexing conceptions of some sudden change;", "Whether to silver grots, or giant range", "Of sapphire columns, or fantastic bridge", "Athwart a flood of crystal. On a ridge", "Now fareth he, that o'er the vast beneath", "Towers like an ocean-cliff, and whence he seeth", "A hundred waterfalls, whose voices come", "But as the murmuring surge. Chilly and numb", "His bosom grew, when first he, far away,", "Descried an orbed diamond, set to fray", "Old darkness from his throne: 'twas like the sun", "Uprisen o'er chaos: and with such a stun", "Came the amazement, that, absorb'd in it,", "He saw not fiercer wonders--past the wit", "Of any spirit to tell, but one of those", "Who, when this planet's sphering time doth close,", "Will be its high remembrancers: who they?", "The mighty ones who have made eternal day", "For Greece and England. While astonishment", "With deep-drawn sighs was quieting, he went", "Into a marble gallery, passing through", "A mimic temple, so complete and true", "In sacred custom, that he well nigh fear'd", "To search it inwards, whence far off appear'd,", "Through a long pillar'd vista, a fair shrine,", "And, just beyond, on light tiptoe divine,", "A quiver'd Dian. Stepping awfully,", "The youth approach'd; oft turning his veil'd eye", "Down sidelong aisles, and into niches old.", "And when, more near against the marble cold", "He had touch'd his forehead, he began to thread", "All courts and passages, where silence dead", "Rous'd by his whispering footsteps murmured faint:", "And long he travers'd to and fro, to acquaint", "Himself with every mystery, and awe;", "Till, weary, he sat down before the maw", "Of a wide outlet, fathomless and dim", "To wild uncertainty and shadows grim.", "There, when new wonders ceas'd to float before,", "And thoughts of self came on, how crude and sore", "The journey homeward to habitual self!", "A mad-pursuing of the fog-born elf,", "Whose flitting lantern, through rude nettle-briar,", "Cheats us into a swamp, into a fire,", "Into the bosom of a hated thing.", "", " What misery most drowningly doth sing", "In lone Endymion's ear, now he has caught", "The goal of consciousness? Ah, 'tis the thought,", "The deadly feel of solitude: for lo!", "He cannot see the heavens, nor the flow", "Of rivers, nor hill-flowers running wild", "In pink and purple chequer, nor, up-pil'd,", "The cloudy rack slow journeying in the west,", "Like herded elephants; nor felt, nor prest", "Cool grass, nor tasted the fresh slumberous air;", "But far from such companionship to wear", "An unknown time, surcharg'd with grief, away,", "Was now his lot. And must he patient stay,", "Tracing fantastic figures with his spear?", "\"No!\" exclaimed he, \"why should I tarry here?\"", "No! loudly echoed times innumerable.", "At which he straightway started, and 'gan tell", "His paces back into the temple's chief;", "Warming and glowing strong in the belief", "Of help from Dian: so that when again", "He caught her airy form, thus did he plain,", "Moving more near the while. \"O Haunter chaste", "Of river sides, and woods, and heathy waste,", "Where with thy silver bow and arrows keen", "Art thou now forested? O woodland Queen,", "What smoothest air thy smoother forehead woos?", "Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos", "Of thy disparted nymphs? Through what dark tree", "Glimmers thy crescent? Wheresoe'er it be,", "'Tis in the breath of heaven: thou dost taste", "Freedom as none can taste it, nor dost waste", "Thy loveliness in dismal elements;", "But, finding in our green earth sweet contents,", "There livest blissfully. Ah, if to thee", "It feels Elysian, how rich to me,", "An exil'd mortal, sounds its pleasant name!", "Within my breast there lives a choking flame--", "O let me cool it among the zephyr-boughs!", "A homeward fever parches up my tongue--", "O let me slake it at the running springs!", "Upon my ear a noisy nothing rings--", "O let me once more hear the linnet's note!", "Before mine eyes thick films and shadows float--", "O let me 'noint them with the heaven's light!", "Dost thou now lave thy feet and ankles white?", "O think how sweet to me the freshening sluice!", "Dost thou now please thy thirst with berry-juice?", "O think how this dry palate would rejoice!", "If in soft slumber thou dost hear my voice,", "Oh think how I should love a bed of flowers!--", "Young goddess! let me see my native bowers!", "Deliver me from this rapacious deep!\"", "", " Thus ending loudly, as he would o'erleap", "His destiny, alert he stood: but when", "Obstinate silence came heavily again,", "Feeling about for its old couch of space", "And airy cradle, lowly bow'd his face", "Desponding, o'er the marble floor's cold thrill.", "But 'twas not long; for, sweeter than the rill", "To its old channel, or a swollen tide", "To margin sallows, were the leaves he spied,", "And flowers, and wreaths, and ready myrtle crowns", "Up heaping through the slab: refreshment drowns", "Itself, and strives its own delights to hide--", "Nor in one spot alone; the floral pride", "In a long whispering birth enchanted grew", "Before his footsteps; as when heav'd anew", "Old ocean rolls a lengthened wave to the shore,", "Down whose green back the short-liv'd foam, all hoar,", "Bursts gradual, with a wayward indolence.", "", " Increasing still in heart, and pleasant sense,", "Upon his fairy journey on he hastes;", "So anxious for the end, he scarcely wastes", "One moment with his hand among the sweets:", "Onward he goes--he stops--his bosom beats", "As plainly in his ear, as the faint charm", "Of which the throbs were born. This still alarm,", "This sleepy music, forc'd him walk tiptoe:", "For it came more softly than the east could blow", "Arion's magic to the Atlantic isles;", "Or than the west, made jealous by the smiles", "Of thron'd Apollo, could breathe back the lyre", "To seas Ionian and Tyrian.", "", " O did he ever live, that lonely man,", "Who lov'd--and music slew not? 'Tis the pest", "Of love, that fairest joys give most unrest;", "That things of delicate and tenderest worth", "Are swallow'd all, and made a seared dearth,", "By one consuming flame: it doth immerse", "And suffocate true blessings in a curse.", "Half-happy, by comparison of bliss,", "Is miserable. 'Twas even so with this", "Dew-dropping melody, in the Carian's ear;", "First heaven, then hell, and then forgotten clear,", "Vanish'd in elemental passion.", "", " And down some swart abysm he had gone,", "Had not a heavenly guide benignant led", "To where thick myrtle branches, 'gainst his head", "Brushing, awakened: then the sounds again", "Went noiseless as a passing noontide rain", "Over a bower, where little space he stood;", "For as the sunset peeps into a wood", "So saw he panting light, and towards it went", "Through winding alleys; and lo, wonderment!", "Upon soft verdure saw, one here, one there,", "Cupids a slumbering on their pinions fair.", "", " After a thousand mazes overgone,", "At last, with sudden step, he came upon", "A chamber, myrtle wall'd, embowered high,", "Full of light, incense, tender minstrelsy,", "And more of beautiful and strange beside:", "For on a silken couch of rosy pride,", "In midst of all, there lay a sleeping youth", "Of fondest beauty; fonder, in fair sooth,", "Than sighs could fathom, or contentment reach:", "And coverlids gold-tinted like the peach,", "Or ripe October's faded marigolds,", "Fell sleek about him in a thousand folds--", "Not hiding up an Apollonian curve", "Of neck and shoulder, nor the tenting swerve", "Of knee from knee, nor ankles pointing light;", "But rather, giving them to the filled sight", "Officiously. Sideway his face repos'd", "On one white arm, and tenderly unclos'd,", "By tenderest pressure, a faint damask mouth", "To slumbery pout; just as the morning south", "Disparts a dew-lipp'd rose. Above his head,", "Four lily stalks did their white honours wed", "To make a coronal; and round him grew", "All tendrils green, of every bloom and hue,", "Together intertwin'd and trammel'd fresh:", "The vine of glossy sprout; the ivy mesh,", "Shading its Ethiop berries; and woodbine,", "Of velvet leaves and bugle-blooms divine;", "Convolvulus in streaked vases flush;", "The creeper, mellowing for an autumn blush;", "And virgin's bower, trailing airily;", "With others of the sisterhood. Hard by,", "Stood serene Cupids watching silently.", "One, kneeling to a lyre, touch'd the strings,", "Muffling to death the pathos with his wings;", "And, ever and anon, uprose to look", "At the youth's slumber; while another took", "A willow-bough, distilling odorous dew,", "And shook it on his hair; another flew", "In through the woven roof, and fluttering-wise", "Rain'd violets upon his sleeping eyes.", "", " At these enchantments, and yet many more,", "The breathless Latmian wonder'd o'er and o'er;", "Until, impatient in embarrassment,", "He forthright pass'd, and lightly treading went", "To that same feather'd lyrist, who straightway,", "Smiling, thus whisper'd: \"Though from upper day", "Thou art a wanderer, and thy presence here", "Might seem unholy, be of happy cheer!", "For 'tis the nicest touch of human honour,", "When some ethereal and high-favouring donor", "Presents immortal bowers to mortal sense;", "As now 'tis done to thee, Endymion. Hence", "Was I in no wise startled. So recline", "Upon these living flowers. Here is wine,", "Alive with sparkles--never, I aver,", "Since Ariadne was a vintager,", "So cool a purple: taste these juicy pears,", "Sent me by sad Vertumnus, when his fears", "Were high about Pomona: here is cream,", "Deepening to richness from a snowy gleam;", "Sweeter than that nurse Amalthea skimm'd", "For the boy Jupiter: and here, undimm'd", "By any touch, a bunch of blooming plums", "Ready to melt between an infant's gums:", "And here is manna pick'd from Syrian trees,", "In starlight, by the three Hesperides.", "Feast on, and meanwhile I will let thee know", "Of all these things around us.\" He did so,", "Still brooding o'er the cadence of his lyre;", "And thus: \"I need not any hearing tire", "By telling how the sea-born goddess pin'd", "For a mortal youth, and how she strove to bind", "Him all in all unto her doting self.", "Who would not be so prison'd? but, fond elf,", "He was content to let her amorous plea", "Faint through his careless arms; content to see", "An unseiz'd heaven dying at his feet;", "Content, O fool! to make a cold retreat,", "When on the pleasant grass such love, lovelorn,", "Lay sorrowing; when every tear was born", "Of diverse passion; when her lips and eyes", "Were clos'd in sullen moisture, and quick sighs", "Came vex'd and pettish through her nostrils small.", "Hush! no exclaim--yet, justly mightst thou call", "Curses upon his head.--I was half glad,", "But my poor mistress went distract and mad,", "When the boar tusk'd him: so away she flew", "To Jove's high throne, and by her plainings drew", "Immortal tear-drops down the thunderer's beard;", "Whereon, it was decreed he should be rear'd", "Each summer time to life. Lo! this is he,", "That same Adonis, safe in the privacy", "Of this still region all his winter-sleep.", "Aye, sleep; for when our love-sick queen did weep", "Over his waned corse, the tremulous shower", "Heal'd up the wound, and, with a balmy power,", "Medicined death to a lengthened drowsiness:", "The which she fills with visions, and doth dress", "In all this quiet luxury; and hath set", "Us young immortals, without any let,", "To watch his slumber through. 'Tis well nigh pass'd,", "Even to a moment's filling up, and fast", "She scuds with summer breezes, to pant through", "The first long kiss, warm firstling, to renew", "Embower'd sports in Cytherea's isle.", "Look! how those winged listeners all this while", "Stand anxious: see! behold!\"--This clamant word", "Broke through the careful silence; for they heard", "A rustling noise of leaves, and out there flutter'd", "Pigeons and doves: Adonis something mutter'd,", "The while one hand, that erst upon his thigh", "Lay dormant, mov'd convuls'd and gradually", "Up to his forehead. Then there was a hum", "Of sudden voices, echoing, \"Come! come!", "Arise! awake! Clear summer has forth walk'd", "Unto the clover-sward, and she has talk'd", "Full soothingly to every nested finch:", "Rise, Cupids! or we'll give the blue-bell pinch", "To your dimpled arms. Once more sweet life begin!\"", "At this, from every side they hurried in,", "Rubbing their sleepy eyes with lazy wrists,", "And doubling overhead their little fists", "In backward yawns. But all were soon alive:", "For as delicious wine doth, sparkling, dive", "In nectar'd clouds and curls through water fair,", "So from the arbour roof down swell'd an air", "Odorous and enlivening; making all", "To laugh, and play, and sing, and loudly call", "For their sweet queen: when lo! the wreathed green", "Disparted, and far upward could be seen", "Blue heaven, and a silver car, air-borne,", "Whose silent wheels, fresh wet from clouds of morn,", "Spun off a drizzling dew,--which falling chill", "On soft Adonis' shoulders, made him still", "Nestle and turn uneasily about.", "Soon were the white doves plain, with necks stretch'd out,", "And silken traces lighten'd in descent;", "And soon, returning from love's banishment,", "Queen Venus leaning downward open arm'd:", "Her shadow fell upon his breast, and charm'd", "A tumult to his heart, and a new life", "Into his eyes. Ah, miserable strife,", "But for her comforting! unhappy sight,", "But meeting her blue orbs! Who, who can write", "Of these first minutes? The unchariest muse", "To embracements warm as theirs makes coy excuse.", "", " O it has ruffled every spirit there,", "Saving love's self, who stands superb to share", "The general gladness: awfully he stands;", "A sovereign quell is in his waving hands;", "No sight can bear the lightning of his bow;", "His quiver is mysterious, none can know", "What themselves think of it; from forth his eyes", "There darts strange light of varied hues and dyes:", "A scowl is sometimes on his brow, but who", "Look full upon it feel anon the blue", "Of his fair eyes run liquid through their souls.", "Endymion feels it, and no more controls", "The burning prayer within him; so, bent low,", "He had begun a plaining of his woe.", "But Venus, bending forward, said: \"My child,", "Favour this gentle youth; his days are wild", "With love--he--but alas! too well I see", "Thou know'st the deepness of his misery.", "Ah, smile not so, my son: I tell thee true,", "That when through heavy hours I used to rue", "The endless sleep of this new-born Adon',", "This stranger ay I pitied. For upon", "A dreary morning once I fled away", "Into the breezy clouds, to weep and pray", "For this my love: for vexing Mars had teaz'd", "Me even to tears: thence, when a little eas'd,", "Down-looking, vacant, through a hazy wood,", "I saw this youth as he despairing stood:", "Those same dark curls blown vagrant in the wind:", "Those same full fringed lids a constant blind", "Over his sullen eyes: I saw him throw", "Himself on wither'd leaves, even as though", "Death had come sudden; for no jot he mov'd,", "Yet mutter'd wildly. I could hear he lov'd", "Some fair immortal, and that his embrace", "Had zoned her through the night. There is no trace", "Of this in heaven: I have mark'd each cheek,", "And find it is the vainest thing to seek;", "And that of all things 'tis kept secretest.", "Endymion! one day thou wilt be blest:", "So still obey the guiding hand that fends", "Thee safely through these wonders for sweet ends.", "'Tis a concealment needful in extreme;", "And if I guess'd not so, the sunny beam", "Thou shouldst mount up to with me. Now adieu!", "Here must we leave thee.\"--At these words up flew", "The impatient doves, up rose the floating car,", "Up went the hum celestial. High afar", "The Latmian saw them minish into nought;", "And, when all were clear vanish'd, still he caught", "A vivid lightning from that dreadful bow.", "When all was darkened, with Etnean throe", "The earth clos'd--gave a solitary moan--", "And left him once again in twilight lone.", "", " He did not rave, he did not stare aghast,", "For all those visions were o'ergone, and past,", "And he in loneliness: he felt assur'd", "Of happy times, when all he had endur'd", "Would seem a feather to the mighty prize.", "So, with unusual gladness, on he hies", "Through caves, and palaces of mottled ore,", "Gold dome, and crystal wall, and turquois floor,", "Black polish'd porticos of awful shade,", "And, at the last, a diamond balustrade,", "Leading afar past wild magnificence,", "Spiral through ruggedest loopholes, and thence", "Stretching across a void, then guiding o'er", "Enormous chasms, where, all foam and roar,", "Streams subterranean tease their granite beds;", "Then heighten'd just above the silvery heads", "Of a thousand fountains, so that he could dash", "The waters with his spear; but at the splash,", "Done heedlessly, those spouting columns rose", "Sudden a poplar's height, and 'gan to enclose", "His diamond path with fretwork, streaming round", "Alive, and dazzling cool, and with a sound,", "Haply, like dolphin tumults, when sweet shells", "Welcome the float of Thetis. Long he dwells", "On this delight; for, every minute's space,", "The streams with changed magic interlace:", "Sometimes like delicatest lattices,", "Cover'd with crystal vines; then weeping trees,", "Moving about as in a gentle wind,", "Which, in a wink, to watery gauze refin'd,", "Pour'd into shapes of curtain'd canopies,", "Spangled, and rich with liquid broideries", "Of flowers, peacocks, swans, and naiads fair.", "Swifter than lightning went these wonders rare;", "And then the water, into stubborn streams", "Collecting, mimick'd the wrought oaken beams,", "Pillars, and frieze, and high fantastic roof,", "Of those dusk places in times far aloof", "Cathedrals call'd. He bade a loth farewel", "To these founts Protean, passing gulph, and dell,", "And torrent, and ten thousand jutting shapes,", "Half seen through deepest gloom, and griesly gapes,", "Blackening on every side, and overhead", "A vaulted dome like Heaven's, far bespread", "With starlight gems: aye, all so huge and strange,", "The solitary felt a hurried change", "Working within him into something dreary,--", "Vex'd like a morning eagle, lost, and weary,", "And purblind amid foggy, midnight wolds.", "But he revives at once: for who beholds", "New sudden things, nor casts his mental slough?", "Forth from a rugged arch, in the dusk below,", "Came mother Cybele! alone--alone--", "In sombre chariot; dark foldings thrown", "About her majesty, and front death-pale,", "With turrets crown'd. Four maned lions hale", "The sluggish wheels; solemn their toothed maws,", "Their surly eyes brow-hidden, heavy paws", "Uplifted drowsily, and nervy tails", "Cowering their tawny brushes. Silent sails", "This shadowy queen athwart, and faints away", "In another gloomy arch.", "", " Wherefore delay,", "Young traveller, in such a mournful place?", "Art thou wayworn, or canst not further trace", "The diamond path? And does it indeed end", "Abrupt in middle air? Yet earthward bend", "Thy forehead, and to Jupiter cloud-borne", "Call ardently! He was indeed wayworn;", "Abrupt, in middle air, his way was lost;", "To cloud-borne Jove he bowed, and there crost", "Towards him a large eagle, 'twixt whose wings,", "Without one impious word, himself he flings,", "Committed to the darkness and the gloom:", "Down, down, uncertain to what pleasant doom,", "Swift as a fathoming plummet down he fell", "Through unknown things; till exhaled asphodel,", "And rose, with spicy fannings interbreath'd,", "Came swelling forth where little caves were wreath'd", "So thick with leaves and mosses, that they seem'd", "Large honey-combs of green, and freshly teem'd", "With airs delicious. In the greenest nook", "The eagle landed him, and farewel took.", "", " It was a jasmine bower, all bestrown", "With golden moss. His every sense had grown", "Ethereal for pleasure; 'bove his head", "Flew a delight half-graspable; his tread", "Was Hesperean; to his capable ears", "Silence was music from the holy spheres;", "A dewy luxury was in his eyes;", "The little flowers felt his pleasant sighs", "And stirr'd them faintly. Verdant cave and cell", "He wander'd through, oft wondering at such swell", "Of sudden exaltation: but, \"Alas!", "Said he, \"will all this gush of feeling pass", "Away in solitude? And must they wane,", "Like melodies upon a sandy plain,", "Without an echo? Then shall I be left", "So sad, so melancholy, so bereft!", "Yet still I feel immortal! O my love,", "My breath of life, where art thou? High above,", "Dancing before the morning gates of heaven?", "Or keeping watch among those starry seven,", "Old Atlas' children? Art a maid of the waters,", "One of shell-winding Triton's bright-hair'd daughters?", "Or art, impossible! a nymph of Dian's,", "Weaving a coronal of tender scions", "For very idleness? Where'er thou art,", "Methinks it now is at my will to start", "Into thine arms; to scare Aurora's train,", "And snatch thee from the morning; o'er the main", "To scud like a wild bird, and take thee off", "From thy sea-foamy cradle; or to doff", "Thy shepherd vest, and woo thee mid fresh leaves.", "No, no, too eagerly my soul deceives", "Its powerless self: I know this cannot be.", "O let me then by some sweet dreaming flee", "To her entrancements: hither sleep awhile!", "Hither most gentle sleep! and soothing foil", "For some few hours the coming solitude.\"", "", " Thus spake he, and that moment felt endued", "With power to dream deliciously; so wound", "Through a dim passage, searching till he found", "The smoothest mossy bed and deepest, where", "He threw himself, and just into the air", "Stretching his indolent arms, he took, O bliss!", "A naked waist: \"Fair Cupid, whence is this?\"", "A well-known voice sigh'd, \"Sweetest, here am I!\"", "At which soft ravishment, with doating cry", "They trembled to each other.--Helicon!", "O fountain'd hill! Old Homer's Helicon!", "That thou wouldst spout a little streamlet o'er", "These sorry pages; then the verse would soar", "And sing above this gentle pair, like lark", "Over his nested young: but all is dark", "Around thine aged top, and thy clear fount", "Exhales in mists to heaven. Aye, the count", "Of mighty Poets is made up; the scroll", "Is folded by the Muses; the bright roll", "Is in Apollo's hand: our dazed eyes", "Have seen a new tinge in the western skies:", "The world has done its duty. Yet, oh yet,", "Although the sun of poesy is set,", "These lovers did embrace, and we must weep", "That there is no old power left to steep", "A quill immortal in their joyous tears.", "Long time in silence did their anxious fears", "Question that thus it was; long time they lay", "Fondling and kissing every doubt away;", "Long time ere soft caressing sobs began", "To mellow into words, and then there ran", "Two bubbling springs of talk from their sweet lips.", "\"O known Unknown! from whom my being sips", "Such darling essence, wherefore may I not", "Be ever in these arms? in this sweet spot", "Pillow my chin for ever? ever press", "These toying hands and kiss their smooth excess?", "Why not for ever and for ever feel", "That breath about my eyes? Ah, thou wilt steal", "Away from me again, indeed, indeed--", "Thou wilt be gone away, and wilt not heed", "My lonely madness. Speak, my kindest fair!", "Is--is it to be so? No! Who will dare", "To pluck thee from me? And, of thine own will,", "Full well I feel thou wouldst not leave me. Still", "Let me entwine thee surer, surer--now", "How can we part? Elysium! who art thou?", "Who, that thou canst not be for ever here,", "Or lift me with thee to some starry sphere?", "Enchantress! tell me by this soft embrace,", "By the most soft completion of thy face,", "Those lips, O slippery blisses, twinkling eyes,", "And by these tenderest, milky sovereignties--", "These tenderest, and by the nectar-wine,", "The passion\"--------\"O lov'd Ida the divine!", "Endymion! dearest! Ah, unhappy me!", "His soul will 'scape us--O felicity!", "How he does love me! His poor temples beat", "To the very tune of love--how sweet, sweet, sweet.", "Revive, dear youth, or I shall faint and die;", "Revive, or these soft hours will hurry by", "In tranced dulness; speak, and let that spell", "Affright this lethargy! I cannot quell", "Its heavy pressure, and will press at least", "My lips to thine, that they may richly feast", "Until we taste the life of love again.", "What! dost thou move? dost kiss? O bliss! O pain!", "I love thee, youth, more than I can conceive;", "And so long absence from thee doth bereave", "My soul of any rest: yet must I hence:", "Yet, can I not to starry eminence", "Uplift thee; nor for very shame can own", "Myself to thee. Ah, dearest, do not groan", "Or thou wilt force me from this secrecy,", "And I must blush in heaven. O that I", "Had done it already; that the dreadful smiles", "At my lost brightness, my impassion'd wiles,", "Had waned from Olympus' solemn height,", "And from all serious Gods; that our delight", "Was quite forgotten, save of us alone!", "And wherefore so ashamed? 'Tis but to atone", "For endless pleasure, by some coward blushes:", "Yet must I be a coward!--Horror rushes", "Too palpable before me--the sad look", "Of Jove--Minerva's start--no bosom shook", "With awe of purity--no Cupid pinion", "In reverence veiled--my crystaline dominion", "Half lost, and all old hymns made nullity!", "But what is this to love? O I could fly", "With thee into the ken of heavenly powers,", "So thou wouldst thus, for many sequent hours,", "Press me so sweetly. Now I swear at once", "That I am wise, that Pallas is a dunce--", "Perhaps her love like mine is but unknown--", "O I do think that I have been alone", "In chastity: yes, Pallas has been sighing,", "While every eve saw me my hair uptying", "With fingers cool as aspen leaves. Sweet love,", "I was as vague as solitary dove,", "Nor knew that nests were built. Now a soft kiss--", "Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss,", "An immortality of passion's thine:", "Ere long I will exalt thee to the shine", "Of heaven ambrosial; and we will shade", "Ourselves whole summers by a river glade;", "And I will tell thee stories of the sky,", "And breathe thee whispers of its minstrelsy.", "My happy love will overwing all bounds!", "O let me melt into thee; let the sounds", "Of our close voices marry at their birth;", "Let us entwine hoveringly--O dearth", "Of human words! roughness of mortal speech!", "Lispings empyrean will I sometime teach", "Thine honied tongue--lute-breathings, which I gasp", "To have thee understand, now while I clasp", "Thee thus, and weep for fondness--I am pain'd,", "Endymion: woe! woe! is grief contain'd", "In the very deeps of pleasure, my sole life?\"--", "Hereat, with many sobs, her gentle strife", "Melted into a languor. He return'd", "Entranced vows and tears.", "", " Ye who have yearn'd", "With too much passion, will here stay and pity,", "For the mere sake of truth; as 'tis a ditty", "Not of these days, but long ago 'twas told", "By a cavern wind unto a forest old;", "And then the forest told it in a dream", "To a sleeping lake, whose cool and level gleam", "A poet caught as he was journeying", "To Phoebus' shrine; and in it he did fling", "His weary limbs, bathing an hour's space,", "And after, straight in that inspired place", "He sang the story up into the air,", "Giving it universal freedom. There", "Has it been ever sounding for those ears", "Whose tips are glowing hot. The legend cheers", "Yon centinel stars; and he who listens to it", "Must surely be self-doomed or he will rue it:", "For quenchless burnings come upon the heart,", "Made fiercer by a fear lest any part", "Should be engulphed in the eddying wind.", "As much as here is penn'd doth always find", "A resting place, thus much comes clear and plain;", "Anon the strange voice is upon the wane--", "And 'tis but echo'd from departing sound,", "That the fair visitant at last unwound", "Her gentle limbs, and left the youth asleep.--", "Thus the tradition of the gusty deep.", "", " Now turn we to our former chroniclers.--", "Endymion awoke, that grief of hers", "Sweet paining on his ear: he sickly guess'd", "How lone he was once more, and sadly press'd", "His empty arms together, hung his head,", "And most forlorn upon that widow'd bed", "Sat silently. Love's madness he had known:", "Often with more than tortured lion's groan", "Moanings had burst from him; but now that rage", "Had pass'd away: no longer did he wage", "A rough-voic'd war against the dooming stars.", "No, he had felt too much for such harsh jars:", "The lyre of his soul Eolian tun'd", "Forgot all violence, and but commun'd", "With melancholy thought: O he had swoon'd", "Drunken from pleasure's nipple; and his love", "Henceforth was dove-like.--Loth was he to move", "From the imprinted couch, and when he did,", "'Twas with slow, languid paces, and face hid", "In muffling hands. So temper'd, out he stray'd", "Half seeing visions that might have dismay'd", "Alecto's serpents; ravishments more keen", "Than Hermes' pipe, when anxious he did lean", "Over eclipsing eyes: and at the last", "It was a sounding grotto, vaulted, vast,", "O'er studded with a thousand, thousand pearls,", "And crimson mouthed shells with stubborn curls,", "Of every shape and size, even to the bulk", "In which whales arbour close, to brood and sulk", "Against an endless storm. Moreover too,", "Fish-semblances, of green and azure hue,", "Ready to snort their streams. In this cool wonder", "Endymion sat down, and 'gan to ponder", "On all his life: his youth, up to the day", "When 'mid acclaim, and feasts, and garlands gay,", "He stept upon his shepherd throne: the look", "Of his white palace in wild forest nook,", "And all the revels he had lorded there:", "Each tender maiden whom he once thought fair,", "With every friend and fellow-woodlander--", "Pass'd like a dream before him. Then the spur", "Of the old bards to mighty deeds: his plans", "To nurse the golden age 'mong shepherd clans:", "That wondrous night: the great Pan-festival:", "His sister's sorrow; and his wanderings all,", "Until into the earth's deep maw he rush'd:", "Then all its buried magic, till it flush'd", "High with excessive love. \"And now,\" thought he,", "\"How long must I remain in jeopardy", "Of blank amazements that amaze no more?", "Now I have tasted her sweet soul to the core", "All other depths are shallow: essences,", "Once spiritual, are like muddy lees,", "Meant but to fertilize my earthly root,", "And make my branches lift a golden fruit", "Into the bloom of heaven: other light,", "Though it be quick and sharp enough to blight", "The Olympian eagle's vision, is dark,", "Dark as the parentage of chaos. Hark!", "My silent thoughts are echoing from these shells;", "Or they are but the ghosts, the dying swells", "Of noises far away?--list!\"--Hereupon", "He kept an anxious ear. The humming tone", "Came louder, and behold, there as he lay,", "On either side outgush'd, with misty spray,", "A copious spring; and both together dash'd", "Swift, mad, fantastic round the rocks, and lash'd", "Among the conchs and shells of the lofty grot,", "Leaving a trickling dew. At last they shot", "Down from the ceiling's height, pouring a noise", "As of some breathless racers whose hopes poize", "Upon the last few steps, and with spent force", "Along the ground they took a winding course.", "Endymion follow'd--for it seem'd that one", "Ever pursued, the other strove to shun--", "Follow'd their languid mazes, till well nigh", "He had left thinking of the mystery,--", "And was now rapt in tender hoverings", "Over the vanish'd bliss. Ah! what is it sings", "His dream away? What melodies are these?", "They sound as through the whispering of trees,", "Not native in such barren vaults. Give ear!", "", " \"O Arethusa, peerless nymph! why fear", "Such tenderness as mine? Great Dian, why,", "Why didst thou hear her prayer? O that I", "Were rippling round her dainty fairness now,", "Circling about her waist, and striving how", "To entice her to a dive! then stealing in", "Between her luscious lips and eyelids thin.", "O that her shining hair was in the sun,", "And I distilling from it thence to run", "In amorous rillets down her shrinking form!", "To linger on her lily shoulders, warm", "Between her kissing breasts, and every charm", "Touch raptur'd!--See how painfully I flow:", "Fair maid, be pitiful to my great woe.", "Stay, stay thy weary course, and let me lead,", "A happy wooer, to the flowery mead", "Where all that beauty snar'd me.\"--\"Cruel god,", "Desist! or my offended mistress' nod", "Will stagnate all thy fountains:--tease me not", "With syren words--Ah, have I really got", "Such power to madden thee? And is it true--", "Away, away, or I shall dearly rue", "My very thoughts: in mercy then away,", "Kindest Alpheus for should I obey", "My own dear will, 'twould be a deadly bane.\"--", "\"O, Oread-Queen! would that thou hadst a pain", "Like this of mine, then would I fearless turn", "And be a criminal.\"--\"Alas, I burn,", "I shudder--gentle river, get thee hence.", "Alpheus! thou enchanter! every sense", "Of mine was once made perfect in these woods.", "Fresh breezes, bowery lawns, and innocent floods,", "Ripe fruits, and lonely couch, contentment gave;", "But ever since I heedlessly did lave", "In thy deceitful stream, a panting glow", "Grew strong within me: wherefore serve me so,", "And call it love? Alas, 'twas cruelty.", "Not once more did I close my happy eyes", "Amid the thrush's song. Away! Avaunt!", "O 'twas a cruel thing.\"--\"Now thou dost taunt", "So softly, Arethusa, that I think", "If thou wast playing on my shady brink,", "Thou wouldst bathe once again. Innocent maid!", "Stifle thine heart no more;--nor be afraid", "Of angry powers: there are deities", "Will shade us with their wings. Those fitful sighs", "'Tis almost death to hear: O let me pour", "A dewy balm upon them!--fear no more,", "Sweet Arethusa! Dian's self must feel", "Sometimes these very pangs. Dear maiden, steal", "Blushing into my soul, and let us fly", "These dreary caverns for the open sky.", "I will delight thee all my winding course,", "From the green sea up to my hidden source", "About Arcadian forests; and will shew", "The channels where my coolest waters flow", "Through mossy rocks; where, 'mid exuberant green,", "I roam in pleasant darkness, more unseen", "Than Saturn in his exile; where I brim", "Round flowery islands, and take thence a skim", "Of mealy sweets, which myriads of bees", "Buzz from their honied wings: and thou shouldst please", "Thyself to choose the richest, where we might", "Be incense-pillow'd every summer night.", "Doff all sad fears, thou white deliciousness,", "And let us be thus comforted; unless", "Thou couldst rejoice to see my hopeless stream", "Hurry distracted from Sol's temperate beam,", "And pour to death along some hungry sands.\"--", "\"What can I do, Alpheus? Dian stands", "Severe before me: persecuting fate!", "Unhappy Arethusa! thou wast late", "A huntress free in\"--At this, sudden fell", "Those two sad streams adown a fearful dell.", "The Latmian listen'd, but he heard no more,", "Save echo, faint repeating o'er and o'er", "The name of Arethusa. On the verge", "Of that dark gulph he wept, and said: \"I urge", "Thee, gentle Goddess of my pilgrimage,", "By our eternal hopes, to soothe, to assuage,", "If thou art powerful, these lovers pains;", "And make them happy in some happy plains.", "", " He turn'd--there was a whelming sound--he stept,", "There was a cooler light; and so he kept", "Towards it by a sandy path, and lo!", "More suddenly than doth a moment go,", "The visions of the earth were gone and fled--", "He saw the giant sea above his head." ], "linecount": "1026" }, { "title": "Endymion: Book III", "author": "John Keats", "lines": [ "There are who lord it o'er their fellow-men", "With most prevailing tinsel: who unpen", "Their baaing vanities, to browse away", "The comfortable green and juicy hay", "From human pastures; or, O torturing fact!", "Who, through an idiot blink, will see unpack'd", "Fire-branded foxes to sear up and singe", "Our gold and ripe-ear'd hopes. With not one tinge", "Of sanctuary splendour, not a sight", "Able to face an owl's, they still are dight", "By the blear-eyed nations in empurpled vests,", "And crowns, and turbans. With unladen breasts,", "Save of blown self-applause, they proudly mount", "To their spirit's perch, their being's high account,", "Their tiptop nothings, their dull skies, their thrones--", "Amid the fierce intoxicating tones", "Of trumpets, shoutings, and belabour'd drums,", "And sudden cannon. Ah! how all this hums,", "In wakeful ears, like uproar past and gone--", "Like thunder clouds that spake to Babylon,", "And set those old Chaldeans to their tasks.--", "Are then regalities all gilded masks?", "No, there are throned seats unscalable", "But by a patient wing, a constant spell,", "Or by ethereal things that, unconfin'd,", "Can make a ladder of the eternal wind,", "And poise about in cloudy thunder-tents", "To watch the abysm-birth of elements.", "Aye, 'bove the withering of old-lipp'd Fate", "A thousand Powers keep religious state,", "In water, fiery realm, and airy bourne;", "And, silent as a consecrated urn,", "Hold sphery sessions for a season due.", "Yet few of these far majesties, ah, few!", "Have bared their operations to this globe--", "Few, who with gorgeous pageantry enrobe", "Our piece of heaven--whose benevolence", "Shakes hand with our own Ceres; every sense", "Filling with spiritual sweets to plenitude,", "As bees gorge full their cells. And, by the feud", "'Twixt Nothing and Creation, I here swear,", "Eterne Apollo! that thy Sister fair", "Is of all these the gentlier-mightiest.", "When thy gold breath is misting in the west,", "She unobserved steals unto her throne,", "And there she sits most meek and most alone;", "As if she had not pomp subservient;", "As if thine eye, high Poet! was not bent", "Towards her with the Muses in thine heart;", "As if the ministring stars kept not apart,", "Waiting for silver-footed messages.", "O Moon! the oldest shades 'mong oldest trees", "Feel palpitations when thou lookest in:", "O Moon! old boughs lisp forth a holier din", "The while they feel thine airy fellowship.", "Thou dost bless every where, with silver lip", "Kissing dead things to life. The sleeping kine,", "Couched in thy brightness, dream of fields divine:", "Innumerable mountains rise, and rise,", "Ambitious for the hallowing of thine eyes;", "And yet thy benediction passeth not", "One obscure hiding-place, one little spot", "Where pleasure may be sent: the nested wren", "Has thy fair face within its tranquil ken,", "And from beneath a sheltering ivy leaf", "Takes glimpses of thee; thou art a relief", "To the poor patient oyster, where it sleeps", "Within its pearly house.--The mighty deeps,", "The monstrous sea is thine--the myriad sea!", "O Moon! far-spooming Ocean bows to thee,", "And Tellus feels his forehead's cumbrous load.", "", " Cynthia! where art thou now? What far abode", "Of green or silvery bower doth enshrine", "Such utmost beauty? Alas, thou dost pine", "For one as sorrowful: thy cheek is pale", "For one whose cheek is pale: thou dost bewail", "His tears, who weeps for thee. Where dost thou sigh?", "Ah! surely that light peeps from Vesper's eye,", "Or what a thing is love! 'Tis She, but lo!", "How chang'd, how full of ache, how gone in woe!", "She dies at the thinnest cloud; her loveliness", "Is wan on Neptune's blue: yet there's a stress", "Of love-spangles, just off yon cape of trees,", "Dancing upon the waves, as if to please", "The curly foam with amorous influence.", "O, not so idle: for down-glancing thence", "She fathoms eddies, and runs wild about", "O'erwhelming water-courses; scaring out", "The thorny sharks from hiding-holes, and fright'ning", "Their savage eyes with unaccustomed lightning.", "Where will the splendor be content to reach?", "O love! how potent hast thou been to teach", "Strange journeyings! Wherever beauty dwells,", "In gulf or aerie, mountains or deep dells,", "In light, in gloom, in star or blazing sun,", "Thou pointest out the way, and straight 'tis won.", "Amid his toil thou gav'st Leander breath;", "Thou leddest Orpheus through the gleams of death;", "Thou madest Pluto bear thin element;", "And now, O winged Chieftain! thou hast sent", "A moon-beam to the deep, deep water-world,", "To find Endymion.", "", " On gold sand impearl'd", "With lily shells, and pebbles milky white,", "Poor Cynthia greeted him, and sooth'd her light", "Against his pallid face: he felt the charm", "To breathlessness, and suddenly a warm", "Of his heart's blood: 'twas very sweet; he stay'd", "His wandering steps, and half-entranced laid", "His head upon a tuft of straggling weeds,", "To taste the gentle moon, and freshening beads,", "Lashed from the crystal roof by fishes' tails.", "And so he kept, until the rosy veils", "Mantling the east, by Aurora's peering hand", "Were lifted from the water's breast, and fann'd", "Into sweet air; and sober'd morning came", "Meekly through billows:--when like taper-flame", "Left sudden by a dallying breath of air,", "He rose in silence, and once more 'gan fare", "Along his fated way.", "", " Far had he roam'd,", "With nothing save the hollow vast, that foam'd", "Above, around, and at his feet; save things", "More dead than Morpheus' imaginings:", "Old rusted anchors, helmets, breast-plates large", "Of gone sea-warriors; brazen beaks and targe;", "Rudders that for a hundred years had lost", "The sway of human hand; gold vase emboss'd", "With long-forgotten story, and wherein", "No reveller had ever dipp'd a chin", "But those of Saturn's vintage; mouldering scrolls,", "Writ in the tongue of heaven, by those souls", "Who first were on the earth; and sculptures rude", "In ponderous stone, developing the mood", "Of ancient Nox;--then skeletons of man,", "Of beast, behemoth, and leviathan,", "And elephant, and eagle, and huge jaw", "Of nameless monster. A cold leaden awe", "These secrets struck into him; and unless", "Dian had chaced away that heaviness,", "He might have died: but now, with cheered feel,", "He onward kept; wooing these thoughts to steal", "About the labyrinth in his soul of love.", "", " \"What is there in thee, Moon! that thou shouldst move", "My heart so potently? When yet a child", "I oft have dried my tears when thou hast smil'd.", "Thou seem'dst my sister: hand in hand we went", "From eve to morn across the firmament.", "No apples would I gather from the tree,", "Till thou hadst cool'd their cheeks deliciously:", "No tumbling water ever spake romance,", "But when my eyes with thine thereon could dance:", "No woods were green enough, no bower divine,", "Until thou liftedst up thine eyelids fine:", "In sowing time ne'er would I dibble take,", "Or drop a seed, till thou wast wide awake;", "And, in the summer tide of blossoming,", "No one but thee hath heard me blithly sing", "And mesh my dewy flowers all the night.", "No melody was like a passing spright", "If it went not to solemnize thy reign.", "Yes, in my boyhood, every joy and pain", "By thee were fashion'd to the self-same end;", "And as I grew in years, still didst thou blend", "With all my ardours: thou wast the deep glen;", "Thou wast the mountain-top--the sage's pen--", "The poet's harp--the voice of friends--the sun;", "Thou wast the river--thou wast glory won;", "Thou wast my clarion's blast--thou wast my steed--", "My goblet full of wine--my topmost deed:--", "Thou wast the charm of women, lovely Moon!", "O what a wild and harmonized tune", "My spirit struck from all the beautiful!", "On some bright essence could I lean, and lull", "Myself to immortality: I prest", "Nature's soft pillow in a wakeful rest.", "But, gentle Orb! there came a nearer bliss--", "My strange love came--Felicity's abyss!", "She came, and thou didst fade, and fade away--", "Yet not entirely; no, thy starry sway", "Has been an under-passion to this hour.", "Now I begin to feel thine orby power", "Is coming fresh upon me: O be kind,", "Keep back thine influence, and do not blind", "My sovereign vision.--Dearest love, forgive", "That I can think away from thee and live!--", "Pardon me, airy planet, that I prize", "One thought beyond thine argent luxuries!", "How far beyond!\" At this a surpris'd start", "Frosted the springing verdure of his heart;", "For as he lifted up his eyes to swear", "How his own goddess was past all things fair,", "He saw far in the concave green of the sea", "An old man sitting calm and peacefully.", "Upon a weeded rock this old man sat,", "And his white hair was awful, and a mat", "Of weeds were cold beneath his cold thin feet;", "And, ample as the largest winding-sheet,", "A cloak of blue wrapp'd up his aged bones,", "O'erwrought with symbols by the deepest groans", "Of ambitious magic: every ocean-form", "Was woven in with black distinctness; storm,", "And calm, and whispering, and hideous roar", "Were emblem'd in the woof; with every shape", "That skims, or dives, or sleeps, 'twixt cape and cape.", "The gulphing whale was like a dot in the spell,", "Yet look upon it, and 'twould size and swell", "To its huge self; and the minutest fish", "Would pass the very hardest gazer's wish,", "And show his little eye's anatomy.", "Then there was pictur'd the regality", "Of Neptune; and the sea nymphs round his state,", "In beauteous vassalage, look up and wait.", "Beside this old man lay a pearly wand,", "And in his lap a book, the which he conn'd", "So stedfastly, that the new denizen", "Had time to keep him in amazed ken,", "To mark these shadowings, and stand in awe.", "", " The old man rais'd his hoary head and saw", "The wilder'd stranger--seeming not to see,", "His features were so lifeless. Suddenly", "He woke as from a trance; his snow-white brows", "Went arching up, and like two magic ploughs", "Furrow'd deep wrinkles in his forehead large,", "Which kept as fixedly as rocky marge,", "Till round his wither'd lips had gone a smile.", "Then up he rose, like one whose tedious toil", "Had watch'd for years in forlorn hermitage,", "Who had not from mid-life to utmost age", "Eas'd in one accent his o'er-burden'd soul,", "Even to the trees. He rose: he grasp'd his stole,", "With convuls'd clenches waving it abroad,", "And in a voice of solemn joy, that aw'd", "Echo into oblivion, he said:--", "", " \"Thou art the man! Now shall I lay my head", "In peace upon my watery pillow: now", "Sleep will come smoothly to my weary brow.", "O Jove! I shall be young again, be young!", "O shell-borne Neptune, I am pierc'd and stung", "With new-born life! What shall I do? Where go,", "When I have cast this serpent-skin of woe?--", "I'll swim to the syrens, and one moment listen", "Their melodies, and see their long hair glisten;", "Anon upon that giant's arm I'll be,", "That writhes about the roots of Sicily:", "To northern seas I'll in a twinkling sail,", "And mount upon the snortings of a whale", "To some black cloud; thence down I'll madly sweep", "On forked lightning, to the deepest deep,", "Where through some sucking pool I will be hurl'd", "With rapture to the other side of the world!", "O, I am full of gladness! Sisters three,", "I bow full hearted to your old decree!", "Yes, every god be thank'd, and power benign,", "For I no more shall wither, droop, and pine.", "Thou art the man!\" Endymion started back", "Dismay'd; and, like a wretch from whom the rack", "Tortures hot breath, and speech of agony,", "Mutter'd: \"What lonely death am I to die", "In this cold region? Will he let me freeze,", "And float my brittle limbs o'er polar seas?", "Or will he touch me with his searing hand,", "And leave a black memorial on the sand?", "Or tear me piece-meal with a bony saw,", "And keep me as a chosen food to draw", "His magian fish through hated fire and flame?", "O misery of hell! resistless, tame,", "Am I to be burnt up? No, I will shout,", "Until the gods through heaven's blue look out!--", "O Tartarus! but some few days agone", "Her soft arms were entwining me, and on", "Her voice I hung like fruit among green leaves:", "Her lips were all my own, and--ah, ripe sheaves", "Of happiness! ye on the stubble droop,", "But never may be garner'd. I must stoop", "My head, and kiss death's foot. Love! love, farewel!", "Is there no hope from thee? This horrid spell", "Would melt at thy sweet breath.--By Dian's hind", "Feeding from her white fingers, on the wind", "I see thy streaming hair! and now, by Pan,", "I care not for this old mysterious man!\"", "", " He spake, and walking to that aged form,", "Look'd high defiance. Lo! his heart 'gan warm", "With pity, for the grey-hair'd creature wept.", "Had he then wrong'd a heart where sorrow kept?", "Had he, though blindly contumelious, brought", "Rheum to kind eyes, a sting to human thought,", "Convulsion to a mouth of many years?", "He had in truth; and he was ripe for tears.", "The penitent shower fell, as down he knelt", "Before that care-worn sage, who trembling felt", "About his large dark locks, and faultering spake:", "", " \"Arise, good youth, for sacred Phoebus' sake!", "I know thine inmost bosom, and I feel", "A very brother's yearning for thee steal", "Into mine own: for why? thou openest", "The prison gates that have so long opprest", "My weary watching. Though thou know'st it not,", "Thou art commission'd to this fated spot", "For great enfranchisement. O weep no more;", "I am a friend to love, to loves of yore:", "Aye, hadst thou never lov'd an unknown power", "I had been grieving at this joyous hour", "But even now most miserable old,", "I saw thee, and my blood no longer cold", "Gave mighty pulses: in this tottering case", "Grew a new heart, which at this moment plays", "As dancingly as thine. Be not afraid,", "For thou shalt hear this secret all display'd,", "Now as we speed towards our joyous task.\"", "", " So saying, this young soul in age's mask", "Went forward with the Carian side by side:", "Resuming quickly thus; while ocean's tide", "Hung swollen at their backs, and jewel'd sands", "Took silently their foot-prints. \"My soul stands", "Now past the midway from mortality,", "And so I can prepare without a sigh", "To tell thee briefly all my joy and pain.", "I was a fisher once, upon this main,", "And my boat danc'd in every creek and bay;", "Rough billows were my home by night and day,--", "The sea-gulls not more constant; for I had", "No housing from the storm and tempests mad,", "But hollow rocks,--and they were palaces", "Of silent happiness, of slumberous ease:", "Long years of misery have told me so.", "Aye, thus it was one thousand years ago.", "One thousand years!--Is it then possible", "To look so plainly through them? to dispel", "A thousand years with backward glance sublime?", "To breathe away as 'twere all scummy slime", "From off a crystal pool, to see its deep,", "And one's own image from the bottom peep?", "Yes: now I am no longer wretched thrall,", "My long captivity and moanings all", "Are but a slime, a thin-pervading scum,", "The which I breathe away, and thronging come", "Like things of yesterday my youthful pleasures.", "", " \"I touch'd no lute, I sang not, trod no measures:", "I was a lonely youth on desert shores.", "My sports were lonely, 'mid continuous roars,", "And craggy isles, and sea-mew's plaintive cry", "Plaining discrepant between sea and sky.", "Dolphins were still my playmates; shapes unseen", "Would let me feel their scales of gold and green,", "Nor be my desolation; and, full oft,", "When a dread waterspout had rear'd aloft", "Its hungry hugeness, seeming ready ripe", "To burst with hoarsest thunderings, and wipe", "My life away like a vast sponge of fate,", "Some friendly monster, pitying my sad state,", "Has dived to its foundations, gulph'd it down,", "And left me tossing safely. But the crown", "Of all my life was utmost quietude:", "More did I love to lie in cavern rude,", "Keeping in wait whole days for Neptune's voice,", "And if it came at last, hark, and rejoice!", "There blush'd no summer eve but I would steer", "My skiff along green shelving coasts, to hear", "The shepherd's pipe come clear from aery steep,", "Mingled with ceaseless bleatings of his sheep:", "And never was a day of summer shine,", "But I beheld its birth upon the brine:", "For I would watch all night to see unfold", "Heaven's gates, and Aethon snort his morning gold", "Wide o'er the swelling streams: and constantly", "At brim of day-tide, on some grassy lea,", "My nets would be spread out, and I at rest.", "The poor folk of the sea-country I blest", "With daily boon of fish most delicate:", "They knew not whence this bounty, and elate", "Would strew sweet flowers on a sterile beach.", "", " \"Why was I not contented? Wherefore reach", "At things which, but for thee, O Latmian!", "Had been my dreary death? Fool! I began", "To feel distemper'd longings: to desire", "The utmost privilege that ocean's sire", "Could grant in benediction: to be free", "Of all his kingdom. Long in misery", "I wasted, ere in one extremest fit", "I plung'd for life or death. To interknit", "One's senses with so dense a breathing stuff", "Might seem a work of pain; so not enough", "Can I admire how crystal-smooth it felt,", "And buoyant round my limbs. At first I dwelt", "Whole days and days in sheer astonishment;", "Forgetful utterly of self-intent;", "Moving but with the mighty ebb and flow.", "Then, like a new fledg'd bird that first doth shew", "His spreaded feathers to the morrow chill,", "I tried in fear the pinions of my will.", "'Twas freedom! and at once I visited", "The ceaseless wonders of this ocean-bed.", "No need to tell thee of them, for I see", "That thou hast been a witness--it must be", "For these I know thou canst not feel a drouth,", "By the melancholy corners of that mouth.", "So I will in my story straightway pass", "To more immediate matter. Woe, alas!", "That love should be my bane! Ah, Scylla fair!", "Why did poor Glaucus ever--ever dare", "To sue thee to his heart? Kind stranger-youth!", "I lov'd her to the very white of truth,", "And she would not conceive it. Timid thing!", "She fled me swift as sea-bird on the wing,", "Round every isle, and point, and promontory,", "From where large Hercules wound up his story", "Far as Egyptian Nile. My passion grew", "The more, the more I saw her dainty hue", "Gleam delicately through the azure clear:", "Until 'twas too fierce agony to bear;", "And in that agony, across my grief", "It flash'd, that Circe might find some relief--", "Cruel enchantress! So above the water", "I rear'd my head, and look'd for Phoebus' daughter.", "Aeaea's isle was wondering at the moon:--", "It seem'd to whirl around me, and a swoon", "Left me dead-drifting to that fatal power.", "", " \"When I awoke, 'twas in a twilight bower;", "Just when the light of morn, with hum of bees,", "Stole through its verdurous matting of fresh trees.", "How sweet, and sweeter! for I heard a lyre,", "And over it a sighing voice expire.", "It ceased--I caught light footsteps; and anon", "The fairest face that morn e'er look'd upon", "Push'd through a screen of roses. Starry Jove!", "With tears, and smiles, and honey-words she wove", "A net whose thraldom was more bliss than all", "The range of flower'd Elysium. Thus did fall", "The dew of her rich speech: \"Ah! Art awake?", "O let me hear thee speak, for Cupid's sake!", "I am so oppress'd with joy! Why, I have shed", "An urn of tears, as though thou wert cold dead;", "And now I find thee living, I will pour", "From these devoted eyes their silver store,", "Until exhausted of the latest drop,", "So it will pleasure thee, and force thee stop", "Here, that I too may live: but if beyond", "Such cool and sorrowful offerings, thou art fond", "Of soothing warmth, of dalliance supreme;", "If thou art ripe to taste a long love dream;", "If smiles, if dimples, tongues for ardour mute,", "Hang in thy vision like a tempting fruit,", "O let me pluck it for thee.\" Thus she link'd", "Her charming syllables, till indistinct", "Their music came to my o'er-sweeten'd soul;", "And then she hover'd over me, and stole", "So near, that if no nearer it had been", "This furrow'd visage thou hadst never seen.", "", " \"Young man of Latmos! thus particular", "Am I, that thou may'st plainly see how far", "This fierce temptation went: and thou may'st not", "Exclaim, How then, was Scylla quite forgot?", "", " \"Who could resist? Who in this universe?", "She did so breathe ambrosia; so immerse", "My fine existence in a golden clime.", "She took me like a child of suckling time,", "And cradled me in roses. Thus condemn'd,", "The current of my former life was stemm'd,", "And to this arbitrary queen of sense", "I bow'd a tranced vassal: nor would thence", "Have mov'd, even though Amphion's harp had woo'd", "Me back to Scylla o'er the billows rude.", "For as Apollo each eve doth devise", "A new appareling for western skies;", "So every eve, nay every spendthrift hour", "Shed balmy consciousness within that bower.", "And I was free of haunts umbrageous;", "Could wander in the mazy forest-house", "Of squirrels, foxes shy, and antler'd deer,", "And birds from coverts innermost and drear", "Warbling for very joy mellifluous sorrow--", "To me new born delights!", "", " \"Now let me borrow,", "For moments few, a temperament as stern", "As Pluto's sceptre, that my words not burn", "These uttering lips, while I in calm speech tell", "How specious heaven was changed to real hell.", "", " \"One morn she left me sleeping: half awake", "I sought for her smooth arms and lips, to slake", "My greedy thirst with nectarous camel-draughts;", "But she was gone. Whereat the barbed shafts", "Of disappointment stuck in me so sore,", "That out I ran and search'd the forest o'er.", "Wandering about in pine and cedar gloom", "Damp awe assail'd me; for there 'gan to boom", "A sound of moan, an agony of sound,", "Sepulchral from the distance all around.", "Then came a conquering earth-thunder, and rumbled", "That fierce complain to silence: while I stumbled", "Down a precipitous path, as if impell'd.", "I came to a dark valley.--Groanings swell'd", "Poisonous about my ears, and louder grew,", "The nearer I approach'd a flame's gaunt blue,", "That glar'd before me through a thorny brake.", "This fire, like the eye of gordian snake,", "Bewitch'd me towards; and I soon was near", "A sight too fearful for the feel of fear:", "In thicket hid I curs'd the haggard scene--", "The banquet of my arms, my arbour queen,", "Seated upon an uptorn forest root;", "And all around her shapes, wizard and brute,", "Laughing, and wailing, groveling, serpenting,", "Shewing tooth, tusk, and venom-bag, and sting!", "O such deformities! Old Charon's self,", "Should he give up awhile his penny pelf,", "And take a dream 'mong rushes Stygian,", "It could not be so phantasied. Fierce, wan,", "And tyrannizing was the lady's look,", "As over them a gnarled staff she shook.", "Oft-times upon the sudden she laugh'd out,", "And from a basket emptied to the rout", "Clusters of grapes, the which they raven'd quick", "And roar'd for more; with many a hungry lick", "About their shaggy jaws. Avenging, slow,", "Anon she took a branch of mistletoe,", "And emptied on't a black dull-gurgling phial:", "Groan'd one and all, as if some piercing trial", "Was sharpening for their pitiable bones.", "She lifted up the charm: appealing groans", "From their poor breasts went sueing to her ear", "In vain; remorseless as an infant's bier", "She whisk'd against their eyes the sooty oil.", "Whereat was heard a noise of painful toil,", "Increasing gradual to a tempest rage,", "Shrieks, yells, and groans of torture-pilgrimage;", "Until their grieved bodies 'gan to bloat", "And puff from the tail's end to stifled throat:", "Then was appalling silence: then a sight", "More wildering than all that hoarse affright;", "For the whole herd, as by a whirlwind writhen,", "Went through the dismal air like one huge Python", "Antagonizing Boreas,--and so vanish'd.", "Yet there was not a breath of wind: she banish'd", "These phantoms with a nod. Lo! from the dark", "Came waggish fauns, and nymphs, and satyrs stark,", "With dancing and loud revelry,--and went", "Swifter than centaurs after rapine bent.--", "Sighing an elephant appear'd and bow'd", "Before the fierce witch, speaking thus aloud", "In human accent: \"Potent goddess! chief", "Of pains resistless! make my being brief,", "Or let me from this heavy prison fly:", "Or give me to the air, or let me die!", "I sue not for my happy crown again;", "I sue not for my phalanx on the plain;", "I sue not for my lone, my widow'd wife;", "I sue not for my ruddy drops of life,", "My children fair, my lovely girls and boys!", "I will forget them; I will pass these joys;", "Ask nought so heavenward, so too--too high:", "Only I pray, as fairest boon, to die,", "Or be deliver'd from this cumbrous flesh,", "From this gross, detestable, filthy mesh,", "And merely given to the cold bleak air.", "Have mercy, Goddess! Circe, feel my prayer!\"", "", " That curst magician's name fell icy numb", "Upon my wild conjecturing: truth had come", "Naked and sabre-like against my heart.", "I saw a fury whetting a death-dart;", "And my slain spirit, overwrought with fright,", "Fainted away in that dark lair of night.", "Think, my deliverer, how desolate", "My waking must have been! disgust, and hate,", "And terrors manifold divided me", "A spoil amongst them. I prepar'd to flee", "Into the dungeon core of that wild wood:", "I fled three days--when lo! before me stood", "Glaring the angry witch. O Dis, even now,", "A clammy dew is beading on my brow,", "At mere remembering her pale laugh, and curse.", "\"Ha! ha! Sir Dainty! there must be a nurse", "Made of rose leaves and thistledown, express,", "To cradle thee my sweet, and lull thee: yes,", "I am too flinty-hard for thy nice touch:", "My tenderest squeeze is but a giant's clutch.", "So, fairy-thing, it shall have lullabies", "Unheard of yet; and it shall still its cries", "Upon some breast more lily-feminine.", "Oh, no--it shall not pine, and pine, and pine", "More than one pretty, trifling thousand years;", "And then 'twere pity, but fate's gentle shears", "Cut short its immortality. Sea-flirt!", "Young dove of the waters! truly I'll not hurt", "One hair of thine: see how I weep and sigh,", "That our heart-broken parting is so nigh.", "And must we part? Ah, yes, it must be so.", "Yet ere thou leavest me in utter woe,", "Let me sob over thee my last adieus,", "And speak a blessing: Mark me! thou hast thews", "Immortal, for thou art of heavenly race:", "But such a love is mine, that here I chase", "Eternally away from thee all bloom", "Of youth, and destine thee towards a tomb.", "Hence shalt thou quickly to the watery vast;", "And there, ere many days be overpast,", "Disabled age shall seize thee; and even then", "Thou shalt not go the way of aged men;", "But live and wither, cripple and still breathe", "Ten hundred years: which gone, I then bequeath", "Thy fragile bones to unknown burial.", "Adieu, sweet love, adieu!\"--As shot stars fall,", "She fled ere I could groan for mercy. Stung", "And poisoned was my spirit: despair sung", "A war-song of defiance 'gainst all hell.", "A hand was at my shoulder to compel", "My sullen steps; another 'fore my eyes", "Moved on with pointed finger. In this guise", "Enforced, at the last by ocean's foam", "I found me; by my fresh, my native home.", "Its tempering coolness, to my life akin,", "Came salutary as I waded in;", "And, with a blind voluptuous rage, I gave", "Battle to the swollen billow-ridge, and drave", "Large froth before me, while there yet remain'd", "Hale strength, nor from my bones all marrow drain'd.", "", " \"Young lover, I must weep--such hellish spite", "With dry cheek who can tell? While thus my might", "Proving upon this element, dismay'd,", "Upon a dead thing's face my hand I laid;", "I look'd--'twas Scylla! Cursed, cursed Circe!", "O vulture-witch, hast never heard of mercy?", "Could not thy harshest vengeance be content,", "But thou must nip this tender innocent", "Because I lov'd her?--Cold, O cold indeed", "Were her fair limbs, and like a common weed", "The sea-swell took her hair. Dead as she was", "I clung about her waist, nor ceas'd to pass", "Fleet as an arrow through unfathom'd brine,", "Until there shone a fabric crystalline,", "Ribb'd and inlaid with coral, pebble, and pearl.", "Headlong I darted; at one eager swirl", "Gain'd its bright portal, enter'd, and behold!", "'Twas vast, and desolate, and icy-cold;", "And all around--But wherefore this to thee", "Who in few minutes more thyself shalt see?--", "I left poor Scylla in a niche and fled.", "My fever'd parchings up, my scathing dread", "Met palsy half way: soon these limbs became", "Gaunt, wither'd, sapless, feeble, cramp'd, and lame.", "", " \"Now let me pass a cruel, cruel space,", "Without one hope, without one faintest trace", "Of mitigation, or redeeming bubble", "Of colour'd phantasy; for I fear 'twould trouble", "Thy brain to loss of reason: and next tell", "How a restoring chance came down to quell", "One half of the witch in me. On a day,", "Sitting upon a rock above the spray,", "I saw grow up from the horizon's brink", "A gallant vessel: soon she seem'd to sink", "Away from me again, as though her course", "Had been resum'd in spite of hindering force--", "So vanish'd: and not long, before arose", "Dark clouds, and muttering of winds morose.", "Old Eolus would stifle his mad spleen,", "But could not: therefore all the billows green", "Toss'd up the silver spume against the clouds.", "The tempest came: I saw that vessel's shrouds", "In perilous bustle; while upon the deck", "Stood trembling creatures. I beheld the wreck;", "The final gulphing; the poor struggling souls:", "I heard their cries amid loud thunder-rolls.", "O they had all been sav'd but crazed eld", "Annull'd my vigorous cravings: and thus quell'd", "And curb'd, think on't, O Latmian! did I sit", "Writhing with pity, and a cursing fit", "Against that hell-born Circe. The crew had gone,", "By one and one, to pale oblivion;", "And I was gazing on the surges prone,", "With many a scalding tear and many a groan,", "When at my feet emerg'd an old man's hand,", "Grasping this scroll, and this same slender wand.", "I knelt with pain--reached out my hand--had grasp'd", "These treasures--touch'd the knuckles--they unclasp'd--", "I caught a finger: but the downward weight", "O'erpowered me--it sank. Then 'gan abate", "The storm, and through chill aguish gloom outburst", "The comfortable sun. I was athirst", "To search the book, and in the warming air", "Parted its dripping leaves with eager care.", "Strange matters did it treat of, and drew on", "My soul page after page, till well-nigh won", "Into forgetfulness; when, stupefied,", "I read these words, and read again, and tried", "My eyes against the heavens, and read again.", "O what a load of misery and pain", "Each Atlas-line bore off!--a shine of hope", "Came gold around me, cheering me to cope", "Strenuous with hellish tyranny. Attend!", "For thou hast brought their promise to an end.", "", " \"In the wide sea there lives a forlorn wretch,", "Doom'd with enfeebled carcase to outstretch", "His loath'd existence through ten centuries,", "And then to die alone. Who can devise", "A total opposition? No one. So", "One million times ocean must ebb and flow,", "And he oppressed. Yet he shall not die,", "These things accomplish'd:--If he utterly", "Scans all the depths of magic, and expounds", "The meanings of all motions, shapes, and sounds;", "If he explores all forms and substances", "Straight homeward to their symbol-essences;", "He shall not die. Moreover, and in chief,", "He must pursue this task of joy and grief", "Most piously;--all lovers tempest-tost,", "And in the savage overwhelming lost,", "He shall deposit side by side, until", "Time's creeping shall the dreary space fulfil:", "Which done, and all these labours ripened,", "A youth, by heavenly power lov'd and led,", "Shall stand before him; whom he shall direct", "How to consummate all. The youth elect", "Must do the thing, or both will be destroy'd.\"--", "", " \"Then,\" cried the young Endymion, overjoy'd,", "\"We are twin brothers in this destiny!", "Say, I intreat thee, what achievement high", "Is, in this restless world, for me reserv'd.", "What! if from thee my wandering feet had swerv'd,", "Had we both perish'd?\"--\"Look!\" the sage replied,", "\"Dost thou not mark a gleaming through the tide,", "Of divers brilliances? 'tis the edifice", "I told thee of, where lovely Scylla lies;", "And where I have enshrined piously", "All lovers, whom fell storms have doom'd to die", "Throughout my bondage.\" Thus discoursing, on", "They went till unobscur'd the porches shone;", "Which hurryingly they gain'd, and enter'd straight.", "Sure never since king Neptune held his state", "Was seen such wonder underneath the stars.", "Turn to some level plain where haughty Mars", "Has legion'd all his battle; and behold", "How every soldier, with firm foot, doth hold", "His even breast: see, many steeled squares,", "And rigid ranks of iron--whence who dares", "One step? Imagine further, line by line,", "These warrior thousands on the field supine:--", "So in that crystal place, in silent rows,", "Poor lovers lay at rest from joys and woes.--", "The stranger from the mountains, breathless, trac'd", "Such thousands of shut eyes in order plac'd;", "Such ranges of white feet, and patient lips", "All ruddy,--for here death no blossom nips.", "He mark'd their brows and foreheads; saw their hair", "Put sleekly on one side with nicest care;", "And each one's gentle wrists, with reverence,", "Put cross-wise to its heart.", "", " \"Let us commence,", "Whisper'd the guide, stuttering with joy, even now.\"", "He spake, and, trembling like an aspen-bough,", "Began to tear his scroll in pieces small,", "Uttering the while some mumblings funeral.", "He tore it into pieces small as snow", "That drifts unfeather'd when bleak northerns blow;", "And having done it, took his dark blue cloak", "And bound it round Endymion: then struck", "His wand against the empty air times nine.--", "\"What more there is to do, young man, is thine:", "But first a little patience; first undo", "This tangled thread, and wind it to a clue.", "Ah, gentle! 'tis as weak as spider's skein;", "And shouldst thou break it--What, is it done so clean?", "A power overshadows thee! Oh, brave!", "The spite of hell is tumbling to its grave.", "Here is a shell; 'tis pearly blank to me,", "Nor mark'd with any sign or charactery--", "Canst thou read aught? O read for pity's sake!", "Olympus! we are safe! Now, Carian, break", "This wand against yon lyre on the pedestal.\"", "", " 'Twas done: and straight with sudden swell and fall", "Sweet music breath'd her soul away, and sigh'd", "A lullaby to silence.--\"Youth! now strew", "These minced leaves on me, and passing through", "Those files of dead, scatter the same around,", "And thou wilt see the issue.\"--'Mid the sound", "Of flutes and viols, ravishing his heart,", "Endymion from Glaucus stood apart,", "And scatter'd in his face some fragments light.", "How lightning-swift the change! a youthful wight", "Smiling beneath a coral diadem,", "Out-sparkling sudden like an upturn'd gem,", "Appear'd, and, stepping to a beauteous corse,", "Kneel'd down beside it, and with tenderest force", "Press'd its cold hand, and wept--and Scylla sigh'd!", "Endymion, with quick hand, the charm applied--", "The nymph arose: he left them to their joy,", "And onward went upon his high employ,", "Showering those powerful fragments on the dead.", "And, as he pass'd, each lifted up its head,", "As doth a flower at Apollo's touch.", "Death felt it to his inwards; 'twas too much:", "Death fell a weeping in his charnel-house.", "The Latmian persever'd along, and thus", "All were re-animated. There arose", "A noise of harmony, pulses and throes", "Of gladness in the air--while many, who", "Had died in mutual arms devout and true,", "Sprang to each other madly; and the rest", "Felt a high certainty of being blest.", "They gaz'd upon Endymion. Enchantment", "Grew drunken, and would have its head and bent.", "Delicious symphonies, like airy flowers,", "Budded, and swell'd, and, full-blown, shed full showers", "Of light, soft, unseen leaves of sounds divine.", "The two deliverers tasted a pure wine", "Of happiness, from fairy-press ooz'd out.", "Speechless they eyed each other, and about", "The fair assembly wander'd to and fro,", "Distracted with the richest overflow", "Of joy that ever pour'd from heaven.", "", " ----\"Away!\"", "Shouted the new-born god; \"Follow, and pay", "Our piety to Neptunus supreme!\"--", "Then Scylla, blushing sweetly from her dream,", "They led on first, bent to her meek surprise,", "Through portal columns of a giant size,", "Into the vaulted, boundless emerald.", "Joyous all follow'd, as the leader call'd,", "Down marble steps; pouring as easily", "As hour-glass sand--and fast, as you might see", "Swallows obeying the south summer's call,", "Or swans upon a gentle waterfall.", "", " Thus went that beautiful multitude, nor far,", "Ere from among some rocks of glittering spar,", "Just within ken, they saw descending thick", "Another multitude. Whereat more quick", "Moved either host. On a wide sand they met,", "And of those numbers every eye was wet;", "For each their old love found. A murmuring rose,", "Like what was never heard in all the throes", "Of wind and waters: 'tis past human wit", "To tell; 'tis dizziness to think of it.", "", " This mighty consummation made, the host", "Mov'd on for many a league; and gain'd, and lost", "Huge sea-marks; vanward swelling in array,", "And from the rear diminishing away,--", "Till a faint dawn surpris'd them. Glaucus cried,", "\"Behold! behold, the palace of his pride!", "God Neptune's palaces!\" With noise increas'd,", "They shoulder'd on towards that brightening east.", "At every onward step proud domes arose", "In prospect,--diamond gleams, and golden glows", "Of amber 'gainst their faces levelling.", "Joyous, and many as the leaves in spring,", "Still onward; still the splendour gradual swell'd.", "Rich opal domes were seen, on high upheld", "By jasper pillars, letting through their shafts", "A blush of coral. Copious wonder-draughts", "Each gazer drank; and deeper drank more near:", "For what poor mortals fragment up, as mere", "As marble was there lavish, to the vast", "Of one fair palace, that far far surpass'd,", "Even for common bulk, those olden three,", "Memphis, and Babylon, and Nineveh.", "", " As large, as bright, as colour'd as the bow", "Of Iris, when unfading it doth shew", "Beyond a silvery shower, was the arch", "Through which this Paphian army took its march,", "Into the outer courts of Neptune's state:", "Whence could be seen, direct, a golden gate,", "To which the leaders sped; but not half raught", "Ere it burst open swift as fairy thought,", "And made those dazzled thousands veil their eyes", "Like callow eagles at the first sunrise.", "Soon with an eagle nativeness their gaze", "Ripe from hue-golden swoons took all the blaze,", "And then, behold! large Neptune on his throne", "Of emerald deep: yet not exalt alone;", "At his right hand stood winged Love, and on", "His left sat smiling Beauty's paragon.", "", " Far as the mariner on highest mast", "Can see all round upon the calmed vast,", "So wide was Neptune's hall: and as the blue", "Doth vault the waters, so the waters drew", "Their doming curtains, high, magnificent,", "Aw'd from the throne aloof;--and when storm-rent", "Disclos'd the thunder-gloomings in Jove's air;", "But sooth'd as now, flash'd sudden everywhere,", "Noiseless, sub-marine cloudlets, glittering", "Death to a human eye: for there did spring", "From natural west, and east, and south, and north,", "A light as of four sunsets, blazing forth", "A gold-green zenith 'bove the Sea-God's head.", "Of lucid depth the floor, and far outspread", "As breezeless lake, on which the slim canoe", "Of feather'd Indian darts about, as through", "The delicatest air: air verily,", "But for the portraiture of clouds and sky:", "This palace floor breath-air,--but for the amaze", "Of deep-seen wonders motionless,--and blaze", "Of the dome pomp, reflected in extremes,", "Globing a golden sphere.", "", " They stood in dreams", "Till Triton blew his horn. The palace rang;", "The Nereids danc'd; the Syrens faintly sang;", "And the great Sea-King bow'd his dripping head.", "Then Love took wing, and from his pinions shed", "On all the multitude a nectarous dew.", "The ooze-born Goddess beckoned and drew", "Fair Scylla and her guides to conference;", "And when they reach'd the throned eminence", "She kist the sea-nymph's cheek,--who sat her down", "A toying with the doves. Then,--\"Mighty crown", "And sceptre of this kingdom!\" Venus said,", "\"Thy vows were on a time to Nais paid:", "Behold!\"--Two copious tear-drops instant fell", "From the God's large eyes; he smil'd delectable,", "And over Glaucus held his blessing hands.--", "\"Endymion! Ah! still wandering in the bands", "Of love? Now this is cruel. Since the hour", "I met thee in earth's bosom, all my power", "Have I put forth to serve thee. What, not yet", "Escap'd from dull mortality's harsh net?", "A little patience, youth! 'twill not be long,", "Or I am skilless quite: an idle tongue,", "A humid eye, and steps luxurious,", "Where these are new and strange, are ominous.", "Aye, I have seen these signs in one of heaven,", "When others were all blind; and were I given", "To utter secrets, haply I might say", "Some pleasant words:--but Love will have his day.", "So wait awhile expectant. Pr'ythee soon,", "Even in the passing of thine honey-moon,", "Visit my Cytherea: thou wilt find", "Cupid well-natured, my Adonis kind;", "And pray persuade with thee--Ah, I have done,", "All blisses be upon thee, my sweet son!\"--", "Thus the fair goddess: while Endymion", "Knelt to receive those accents halcyon.", "", " Meantime a glorious revelry began", "Before the Water-Monarch. Nectar ran", "In courteous fountains to all cups outreach'd;", "And plunder'd vines, teeming exhaustless, pleach'd", "New growth about each shell and pendent lyre;", "The which, in disentangling for their fire,", "Pull'd down fresh foliage and coverture", "For dainty toying. Cupid, empire-sure,", "Flutter'd and laugh'd, and oft-times through the throng", "Made a delighted way. Then dance, and song,", "And garlanding grew wild; and pleasure reign'd.", "In harmless tendril they each other chain'd,", "And strove who should be smother'd deepest in", "Fresh crush of leaves.", "", " O 'tis a very sin", "For one so weak to venture his poor verse", "In such a place as this. O do not curse,", "High Muses! let him hurry to the ending.", "", " All suddenly were silent. A soft blending", "Of dulcet instruments came charmingly;", "And then a hymn.", "", " \"KING of the stormy sea!", "Brother of Jove, and co-inheritor", "Of elements! Eternally before", "Thee the waves awful bow. Fast, stubborn rock,", "At thy fear'd trident shrinking, doth unlock", "Its deep foundations, hissing into foam.", "All mountain-rivers lost, in the wide home", "Of thy capacious bosom ever flow.", "Thou frownest, and old Eolus thy foe", "Skulks to his cavern, 'mid the gruff complaint", "Of all his rebel tempests. Dark clouds faint", "When, from thy diadem, a silver gleam", "Slants over blue dominion. Thy bright team", "Gulphs in the morning light, and scuds along", "To bring thee nearer to that golden song", "Apollo singeth, while his chariot", "Waits at the doors of heaven. Thou art not", "For scenes like this: an empire stern hast thou;", "And it hath furrow'd that large front: yet now,", "As newly come of heaven, dost thou sit", "To blend and interknit", "Subdued majesty with this glad time.", "O shell-borne King sublime!", "We lay our hearts before thee evermore--", "We sing, and we adore!", "", " \"Breathe softly, flutes;", "Be tender of your strings, ye soothing lutes;", "Nor be the trumpet heard! O vain, O vain;", "Not flowers budding in an April rain,", "Nor breath of sleeping dove, nor river's flow,--", "No, nor the Eolian twang of Love's own bow,", "Can mingle music fit for the soft ear", "Of goddess Cytherea!", "Yet deign, white Queen of Beauty, thy fair eyes", "On our souls' sacrifice.", "", " \"Bright-winged Child!", "Who has another care when thou hast smil'd?", "Unfortunates on earth, we see at last", "All death-shadows, and glooms that overcast", "Our spirits, fann'd away by thy light pinions.", "O sweetest essence! sweetest of all minions!", "God of warm pulses, and dishevell'd hair,", "And panting bosoms bare!", "Dear unseen light in darkness! eclipser", "Of light in light! delicious poisoner!", "Thy venom'd goblet will we quaff until", "We fill--we fill!", "And by thy Mother's lips----\"", "", "", " Was heard no more", "For clamour, when the golden palace door", "Opened again, and from without, in shone", "A new magnificence. On oozy throne", "Smooth-moving came Oceanus the old,", "To take a latest glimpse at his sheep-fold,", "Before he went into his quiet cave", "To muse for ever--Then a lucid wave,", "Scoop'd from its trembling sisters of mid-sea,", "Afloat, and pillowing up the majesty", "Of Doris, and the Egean seer, her spouse--", "Next, on a dolphin, clad in laurel boughs,", "Theban Amphion leaning on his lute:", "His fingers went across it--All were mute", "To gaze on Amphitrite, queen of pearls,", "And Thetis pearly too.--", "", " The palace whirls", "Around giddy Endymion; seeing he", "Was there far strayed from mortality.", "He could not bear it--shut his eyes in vain;", "Imagination gave a dizzier pain.", "\"O I shall die! sweet Venus, be my stay!", "Where is my lovely mistress? Well-away!", "I die--I hear her voice--I feel my wing--\"", "At Neptune's feet he sank. A sudden ring", "Of Nereids were about him, in kind strife", "To usher back his spirit into life:", "But still he slept. At last they interwove", "Their cradling arms, and purpos'd to convey", "Towards a crystal bower far away.", "", " Lo! while slow carried through the pitying crowd,", "To his inward senses these words spake aloud;", "Written in star-light on the dark above:", "Dearest Endymion! my entire love!", "How have I dwelt in fear of fate: 'tis done--", "Immortal bliss for me too hast thou won.", "Arise then! for the hen-dove shall not hatch", "Her ready eggs, before I'll kissing snatch", "Thee into endless heaven. Awake! awake!", "", " The youth at once arose: a placid lake", "Came quiet to his eyes; and forest green,", "Cooler than all the wonders he had seen,", "Lull'd with its simple song his fluttering breast.", "How happy once again in grassy nest!" ], "linecount": "1041" }, { "title": "Samson Agonistes", "author": "John Milton", "lines": [ "Of that sort of Dramatic Poem which is call'd Tragedy.", "", "", "TRAGEDY, as it was antiently compos'd, hath been ever held the", "gravest, moralest, and most profitable of all other Poems:", "therefore said by Aristotle to be of power by raising pity and fear,", "or terror, to purge the mind of those and such like passions, that is", "to temper and reduce them to just measure with a kind of delight,", "stirr'd up by reading or seeing those passions well imitated. Nor is", "Nature wanting in her own effects to make good his assertion: for", "so in Physic things of melancholic hue and quality are us'd against", "melancholy, sowr against sowr, salt to remove salt humours.", "Hence Philosophers and other gravest Writers, as Cicero, Plutarch", "and others, frequently cite out of Tragic Poets, both to adorn and", "illustrate thir discourse. The Apostle Paul himself thought it not", "unworthy to insert a verse of Euripides into the Text of Holy", "Scripture, I Cor. 15. 33. and Paraeus commenting on the", "Revelation, divides the whole Book as a Tragedy, into Acts", "distinguisht each by a Chorus of Heavenly Harpings and Song", "between. Heretofore Men in highest dignity have labour'd not a", "little to be thought able to compose a Tragedy. Of that honour", "Dionysius the elder was no less ambitious, then before of his", "attaining to the Tyranny. Augustus Caesar also had begun his", "Ajax, but unable to please his own judgment with what he had", "begun. left it unfinisht. Seneca the Philosopher is by some thought", "the Author of those Tragedies (at lest the best of them) that go", "under that name. Gregory Nazianzen a Father of the Church,", "thought it not unbeseeming the sanctity of his person to write a", "Tragedy which he entitl'd, Christ suffering. This is mention'd to", "vindicate Tragedy from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which", "in the account of many it undergoes at this day with other common", "Interludes; hap'ning through the Poets error of intermixing Comic", "stuff with Tragic sadness and gravity; or introducing trivial and", "vulgar persons, which by all judicious hath bin counted absurd; and", "brought in without discretion, corruptly to gratifie the people. And", "though antient Tragedy use no Prologue, yet using sometimes, in", "case of self defence, or explanation, that which Martial calls an", "Epistle; in behalf of this Tragedy coming forth after the antient", "manner, much different from what among us passes for best, thus", "much before-hand may be Epistl'd; that Chorus is here introduc'd", "after the Greek manner, not antient only but modern, and still in", "use among the Italians. In the modelling therefore of this Poem", "with good reason, the Antients and Italians are rather follow'd, as", "of much more authority and fame. The measure of Verse us'd in", "the Chorus is of all sorts, call'd by the Greeks Monostrophic, or", "rather Apolelymenon, without regard had to Strophe, Antistrophe", "or Epod, which were a kind of Stanza's fram'd only for the Music,", "then us'd with the Chorus that sung; not essential to the Poem, and", "therefore not material; or being divided into Stanza's or Pauses", "they may be call'd Allaeostropha. Division into Act and Scene", "referring chiefly to the Stage (to which this work never was", "intended) is here omitted.", "", " It suffices if the whole Drama be found not produc't beyond the", "fift Act, of the style and uniformitie, and that commonly call'd the", "Plot, whether intricate or explicit, which is nothing indeed but such", "oeconomy, or disposition of the fable as may stand best with", "verisimilitude and decorum; they only will best judge who are not", "unacquainted with Aeschulus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the three", "Tragic Poets unequall'd yet by any, and the best rule to all who", "endeavour to write Tragedy. The circumscription of time wherein", "the whole Drama begins and ends, is according to antient rule, and", "best example, within the space of 24 hours.", "", "", "", "The ARGUMENT.", "", "", "Samson made Captive, Blind, and now in the Prison at Gaza, there", "to labour as in a common work-house, on a Festival day, in the", "general cessation from labour, comes forth into the open Air, to a", "place nigh, somewhat retir'd there to sit a while and bemoan his", "condition. Where he happens at length to be visited by certain", "friends and equals of his tribe, which make the Chorus, who seek", "to comfort him what they can ; then by his old Father Manoa, who", "endeavours the like, and withal tells him his purpose to procure his", "liberty by ransom; lastly, that this Feast was proclaim'd by the", "Philistins as a day of Thanksgiving for thir deliverance from the", "hands of Samson, which yet more troubles him. Manoa then", "departs to prosecute his endeavour with the Philistian Lords for", "Samson's redemption; who in the mean while is visited by other", "persons; and lastly by a publick Officer to require coming to the", "Feast before the Lords and People, to play or shew his strength in", "thir presence; he at first refuses, dismissing the publick officer with", "absolute denyal to come; at length perswaded inwardly that this", "was from God, he yields to go along with him, who came now the", "second time with great threatnings to fetch him; the Chorus yet", "remaining on the place, Manoa returns full of joyful hope, to", "procure e're long his Sons deliverance: in the midst of which", "discourse an Ebrew comes in haste confusedly at first; and", "afterward more distinctly relating the Catastrophe, what Samson", "had done to the Philistins, and by accident to himself; wherewith", "the Tragedy ends.", "", "", "The Persons", "", "Samson.", "Manoa the father of Samson.", "Dalila his wife.", "Harapha of Gath.", "Publick Officer.", "Messenger.", "Chorus of Danites", "", "", "The Scene before the Prison in Gaza.", "", "Sam: A little onward lend thy guiding hand", "To these dark steps, a little further on;", "For yonder bank hath choice of Sun or shade,", "There I am wont to sit, when any chance", "Relieves me from my task of servile toyl,", "Daily in the common Prison else enjoyn'd me,", "Where I a Prisoner chain'd, scarce freely draw", "The air imprison'd also, close and damp,", "Unwholsom draught: but here I feel amends,", "The breath of Heav'n fresh-blowing, pure and sweet,", "With day-spring born; here leave me to respire.", "This day a solemn Feast the people hold", "To Dagon thir Sea-Idol, and forbid", "Laborious works, unwillingly this rest", "Thir Superstition yields me; hence with leave", "Retiring from the popular noise, I seek", "This unfrequented place to find some ease,", "Ease to the body some, none to the mind", "From restless thoughts, that like a deadly swarm", "Of Hornets arm'd, no sooner found alone,", "But rush upon me thronging, and present", "Times past, what once I was, and what am now.", "O wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold", "Twice by an Angel, who at last in sight", "Of both my Parents all in flames ascended", "From off the Altar, where an Off'ring burn'd,", "As in a fiery column charioting", "His Godlike presence, and from some great act", "Or benefit reveal'd to Abraham's race?", "Why was my breeding order'd and prescrib'd", "As of a person separate to God,", "Design'd for great exploits; if I must dye", "Betray'd, Captiv'd, and both my Eyes put out,", "Made of my Enemies the scorn and gaze;", "To grind in Brazen Fetters under task", "With this Heav'n-gifted strength? O glorious strength", "Put to the labour of a Beast, debas't", "Lower then bondslave! Promise was that I", "Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver;", "Ask for this great Deliverer now, and find him", "Eyeless in Gaza at the Mill with slaves,", "Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke;", "Yet stay, let me not rashly call in doubt", "Divine Prediction; what if all foretold", "Had been fulfilld but through mine own default,", "Whom have I to complain of but my self?", "Who this high gift of strength committed to me,", "In what part lodg'd, how easily bereft me,", "Under the Seal of silence could not keep,", "But weakly to a woman must reveal it", "O'recome with importunity and tears.", "O impotence of mind, in body strong!", "But what is strength without a double share", "Of wisdom, vast, unwieldy, burdensom,", "Proudly secure, yet liable to fall", "By weakest suttleties, not made to rule,", "But to subserve where wisdom bears command.", "God, when he gave me strength, to shew withal", "How slight the gift was, hung it in my Hair.", "But peace, I must not quarrel with the will", "Of highest dispensation, which herein", "Happ'ly had ends above my reach to know:", "Suffices that to me strength is my bane,", "And proves the sourse of all my miseries;", "So many, and so huge, that each apart", "Would ask a life to wail, but chief of all,", "O loss of sight, of thee I most complain!", "Blind among enemies, O worse then chains,", "Dungeon, or beggery, or decrepit age!", "Light the prime work of God to me is extinct,", "And all her various objects of delight", "Annull'd, which might in part my grief have eas'd,", "Inferiour to the vilest now become", "Of man or worm; the vilest here excel me,", "They creep, yet see, I dark in light expos'd", "To daily fraud, contempt, abuse and wrong,", "Within doors, or without, still as a fool,", "In power of others, never in my own;", "Scarce half I seem to live, dead more then half.", "O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,", "Irrecoverably dark, total Eclipse", "Without all hope of day!", "O first created Beam, and thou great Word,", "Let there be light, and light was over all;", "Why am I thus bereav'd thy prime decree?", "The Sun to me is dark", "And silent as the Moon,", "When she deserts the night", "Hid in her vacant interlunar cave.", "Since light so necessary is to life,", "And almost life itself, if it be true", "That light is in the Soul,", "She all in every part; why was the sight", "To such a tender ball as th' eye confin'd?", "So obvious and so easie to be quench't,", "And not as feeling through all parts diffus'd,", "That she might look at will through every pore?", "Then had I not been thus exil'd from light;", "As in the land of darkness yet in light,", "To live a life half dead, a living death,", "And buried; but O yet more miserable!", "My self, my Sepulcher, a moving Grave,", "Buried, yet not exempt", "By priviledge of death and burial", "From worst of other evils, pains and wrongs,", "But made hereby obnoxious more", "To all the miseries of life,", "Life in captivity", "Among inhuman foes.", "But who are these? for with joint pace I hear", "The tread of many feet stearing this way;", "Perhaps my enemies who come to stare", "At my affliction, and perhaps to insult,", "Thir daily practice to afflict me more.", "", "Chor: This, this is he; softly a while,", "Let us not break in upon him;", "O change beyond report, thought, or belief!", "See how he lies at random, carelessly diffus'd,", "With languish't head unpropt,", "As one past hope, abandon'd", "And by himself given over;", "In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds", "O're worn and soild;", "Or do my eyes misrepresent? Can this be hee,", "That Heroic, that Renown'd,", "Irresistible Samson? whom unarm'd", "No strength of man, or fiercest wild beast could withstand;", "Who tore the Lion, as the Lion tears the Kid,", "Ran on embattelld Armies clad in Iron,", "And weaponless himself,", "Made Arms ridiculous, useless the forgery", "Of brazen shield and spear, the hammer'd Cuirass,", "Chalybean temper'd steel, and frock of mail", "Adamantean Proof;", "But safest he who stood aloof,", "When insupportably his foot advanc't,", "In scorn of thir proud arms and warlike tools,", "Spurn'd them to death by Troops. The bold Ascalonite", "Fled from his Lion ramp, old Warriors turn'd", "Thir plated backs under his heel;", "Or grovling soild thir crested helmets in the dust.", "Then with what trivial weapon came to Hand,", "The Jaw of a dead Ass, his sword of bone,", "A thousand fore-skins fell, the flower of Palestin", "In Ramath-lechi famous to this day:", "Then by main force pull'd up, and on his shoulders bore", "The Gates of Azza, Post, and massie Bar", "Up to the Hill by Hebron, seat of Giants old,", "No journey of a Sabbath day, and loaded so;", "Like whom the Gentiles feign to bear up Heav'n.", "Which shall I first bewail,", "Thy Bondage or lost Sight,", "Prison within Prison", "Inseparably dark?", "Thou art become (O worst imprisonment!)", "The Dungeon of thy self; thy Soul", " (Which Men enjoying sight oft without cause complain)", "Imprison'd now indeed,", "In real darkness of the body dwells,", "Shut up from outward light", "To incorporate with gloomy night;", "For inward light alas", "Puts forth no visual beam.", "O mirror of our fickle state,", "Since man on earth unparallel'd!", "The rarer thy example stands,", "By how much from the top of wondrous glory,", "Strongest of mortal men,", "To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fall'n.", "For him I reckon not in high estate", "Whom long descent of birth", "Or the sphear of fortune raises;", "But thee whose strength, while vertue was her mate", "Might have subdu'd the Earth,", "Universally crown'd with highest praises.", "", "Sam: I hear the sound of words, thir sense the air", "Dissolves unjointed e're it reach my ear.", "", "Chor: Hee speaks, let us draw nigh. Matchless in might,", "The glory late of Israel, now the grief;", "We come thy friends and neighbours not unknown", "From Eshtaol and Zora's fruitful Vale", "To visit or bewail thee, or if better,", "Counsel or Consolation we may bring,", "Salve to thy Sores, apt words have power to swage", "The tumors of a troubl'd mind,", "And are as Balm to fester'd wounds.", "", "Sam: Your coming, Friends, revives me, for I learn", "Now of my own experience, not by talk,", "How counterfeit a coin they are who friends", "Bear in their Superscription (of the most", "I would be understood) in prosperous days", "They swarm, but in adverse withdraw their head", "Not to be found, though sought. Wee see, O friends.", "How many evils have enclos'd me round;", "Yet that which was the worst now least afflicts me,", "Blindness, for had I sight, confus'd with shame,", "How could I once look up, or heave the head,", "Who like a foolish Pilot have shipwrack't,", "My Vessel trusted to me from above,", "Gloriously rigg'd; and for a word, a tear,", "Fool, have divulg'd the secret gift of God", "To a deceitful Woman : tell me Friends,", "Am I not sung and proverbd for a Fool", "In every street, do they not say, how well", "Are come upon him his deserts? yet why?", "Immeasurable strength they might behold", "In me, of wisdom nothing more then mean;", "This with the other should, at least, have paird,", "These two proportiond ill drove me transverse.", "", "Chor: Tax not divine disposal, wisest Men", "Have err'd, and by bad Women been deceiv'd;", "And shall again, pretend they ne're so wise.", "Deject not then so overmuch thy self,", "Who hast of sorrow thy full load besides;", "Yet truth to say, I oft have heard men wonder", "Why thou shouldst wed Philistian women rather", "Then of thine own Tribe fairer, or as fair,", "At least of thy own Nation, and as noble.", "", "Sam: The first I saw at Timna, and she pleas'd", "Mee, not my Parents, that I sought to wed,", "The daughter of an Infidel: they knew not", "That what I motion'd was of God; I knew", "From intimate impulse, and therefore urg'd", "The Marriage on; that by occasion hence", "I might begin Israel's Deliverance,", "The work to which I was divinely call'd;", "She proving false, the next I took to Wife", "(O that I never had! fond wish too late)", "Was in the Vale of Sorec, Dalila,", "That specious Monster, my accomplisht snare.", "I thought it lawful from my former act,", "And the same end; still watching to oppress", "Israel's oppressours: of what now I suffer", "She was not the prime cause, but I my self,", "Who vanquisht with a peal of words (O weakness!)", "Gave up my fort of silence to a Woman.", "", "Chor: In seeking just occasion to provoke", "The Philistine, thy Countries Enemy,", "Thou never wast remiss, I hear thee witness:", "Yet Israel still serves with all his Sons.", "", "Sam: That fault I take not on me, but transfer", "On Israel's Governours, and Heads of Tribes,", "Who seeing those great acts which God had done", "Singly by me against their Conquerours", "Acknowledg'd not, or not at all consider'd", "Deliverance offerd : I on th' other side", "Us'd no ambition to commend my deeds,", "The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the dooer;", "But they persisted deaf, and would not seem", "To count them things worth notice, till at length", "Thir Lords the Philistines with gather'd powers", "Enterd Judea seeking mee, who then", "Safe to the rock of Etham was retir'd,", "Not flying, but fore-casting in what place", "To set upon them, what advantag'd best;", "Mean while the men of Judah to prevent", "The harrass of thir Land, beset me round;", "I willingly on some conditions came", "Into thir hands, and they as gladly yield me", "To the uncircumcis'd a welcom prey,", "Bound with two cords; but cords to me were threds", "Toucht with the flame: on thir whole Host I flew", "Unarm'd, and with a trivial weapon fell'd", "Thir choicest youth; they only liv'd who fled.", "Had Judah that day join'd, or one whole Tribe,", "They had by this possess'd the Towers of Gath,", "And lorded over them whom now they serve;", "But what more oft in Nations grown corrupt,", "And by thir vices brought to servitude,", "Then to love Bondage more then Liberty,", "Bondage with ease then strenuous liberty;", "And to despise, or envy, or suspect", "Whom God hath of his special favour rais'd", "As thir Deliverer; if he aught begin,", "How frequent to desert him, and at last", "To heap ingratitude on worthiest deeds?", "", "Chor: Thy words to my remembrance bring", "How Succoth and the Fort of Penuel", "Thir great Deliverer contemn'd,", "The matchless Gideon in pursuit", "Of Madian and her vanquisht Kings;", "And how ingrateful Ephraim", "Not worse then by his shield and spear", "Had dealt with Jephtha, who by argument,", "Defended Israel from the Ammonite,", "Had not his prowess quell'd thir pride", "In that sore battel when so many dy'd", "Without Reprieve adjudg'd to death,", "For want of well pronouncing Shibboleth.", "", "Sam: Of such examples adde mee to the roul,", "Mee easily indeed mine may neglect,", "But Gods propos'd deliverance not so.", "", "Chor: Just are the ways of God,", "And justifiable to Men;", "Unless there be who think not God at all,", "If any be, they walk obscure;", "For of such Doctrine never was there School,", "But the heart of the Fool,", "And no man therein Doctor but himself.", "Yet more there be who doubt his ways not just,", "As to his own edicts, found contradicting,", "Then give the rains to wandring thought,", "Regardless of his glories diminution;", "Till by thir own perplexities involv'd", "They ravel more, still less resolv'd,", "But never find self-satisfying solution.", "As if they would confine th' interminable,", "And tie him to his own prescript,", "Who made our Laws to bind us, not himself,", "And hath full right to exempt", "Whom so it pleases him by choice", "From National obstriction, without taint", "Of sin, or legal debt;", "For with his own Laws he can best dispence.", "He would not else who never wanted means,", "Nor in respect of the enemy just cause", "To set his people free,", "Have prompted this Heroic Nazarite,", "Against his vow of strictest purity,", "To seek in marriage that fallacious Bride,", "Unclean, unchaste.", "Down Reason then, at least vain reasonings down,", "Though Reason here aver", "That moral verdit quits her of unclean :", "Unchaste was subsequent, her stain not his.", "But see here comes thy reverend Sire", "With careful step, Locks white as doune,", "Old Manoah: advise", "Forthwith how thou oughtst to receive him.", "", "Sam: Ay me, another inward grief awak't,", "With mention of that name renews th' assault.", "", "Man: Brethren and men of Dan, for such ye seem,", "Though in this uncouth place; if old respect,", "As I suppose, towards your once gloried friend,", "My Son now Captive, hither hath inform'd", "Your younger feet, while mine cast back with age", "Came lagging after; say if he be here.", "", "Chor: As signal now in low dejected state,", "As earst in highest; behold him where be lies.", "", "Man: O miserable change! is this the man,", "That invincible Samson, far renown'd,", "The dread of Israel's foes, who with a strength", "Equivalent to Angels walk'd thir streets,", "None offering fight; who single combatant", "Duell'd thir Armies rank't in proud array,", "Himself an Army, now unequal match", "To save himself against a coward arm'd", "At one spears length. O ever failing trust", "In mortal strength! and oh what not in man", "Deceivable and vain! Nay what thing good", "Pray'd for, but often proves our woe, our bane?", "I pray'd for Children, and thought barrenness", "In wedlock a reproach; I gain'd a Son,", "And such a Son as all Men hail'd me happy;", "Who would be now a Father in my stead?", "O wherefore did God grant me my request,", "And as a blessing with such pomp adorn'd?", "Why are his gifts desirable, to tempt", "Our earnest Prayers, then giv'n with solemn hand", "As Graces, draw a Scorpions tail behind?", "For this did the Angel twice descend? for this", "Ordain'd thy nurture holy, as of a Plant;", "Select, and Sacred, Glorious for a while,", "The miracle of men: then in an hour", "Ensnar'd, assaulted, overcome, led bound,", "Thy Foes derision, Captive, Poor, and Blind", "Into a Dungeon thrust, to work with Slaves?", "Alas methinks whom God hath chosen once", "To worthiest deeds, if he through frailty err,", "He should not so o'rewhelm, and as a thrall", "Subject him to so foul indignities,", "Be it but for honours sake of former deeds.", "", "Sam: Appoint not heavenly disposition, Father,", "Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me", "But justly; I my self have brought them on,", "Sole Author I, sole cause: if aught seem vile,", "As vile hath been my folly, who have profan'd", "The mystery of God giv'n me under pledge", "Of vow, and have betray'd it to a woman,", "A Canaanite, my faithless enemy.", "This well I knew, nor was at all surpris'd,", "But warn'd by oft experience: did not she", "Of Timna first betray me, and reveal", "The secret wrested from me in her highth", "Of Nuptial Love profest, carrying it strait", "To them who had corrupted her, my Spies,", "And Rivals? In this other was there found", "More Faith? who also in her prime of love,", "Spousal embraces, vitiated with Gold,", "Though offer'd only, by the sent conceiv'd", "Her spurious first-born; Treason against me?", "Thrice she assay'd with flattering prayers and sighs,", "And amorous reproaches to win from me", "My capital secret, in what part my strength", "Lay stor'd in what part summ'd, that she might know:", "Thrice I deluded her, and turn'd to sport", "Her importunity, each time perceiving", "How openly, and with what impudence", "She purpos'd to betray me, and (which was worse", "Then undissembl'd hate) with what contempt", "She sought to make me Traytor to my self;", "Yet the fourth time, when mustring all her wiles,", "With blandisht parlies, feminine assaults,", "Tongue-batteries, she surceas'd not day nor night", "To storm me over-watch't, and wearied out.", "At times when men seek most repose and rest,", "I yielded, and unlock'd her all my heart,", "Who with a grain of manhood well resolv'd", "Might easily have shook off all her snares :", "But foul effeminacy held me yok't", "Her Bond-slave; O indignity, O blot", "To Honour and Religion! servil mind", "Rewarded well with servil punishment!", "The base degree to which I now am fall'n,", "These rags, this grinding, is not yet so base", "As was my former servitude, ignoble,", "Unmanly, ignominious, infamous,", "True slavery, and that blindness worse then this,", "That saw not how degeneratly I serv'd.", "", "Man: I cannot praise thy Marriage choises, Son,", "Rather approv'd them not; but thou didst plead", "Divine impulsion prompting how thou might'st", "Find some occasion to infest our Foes.", "I state not that; this I am sure; our Foes", "Found soon occasion thereby to make thee", "Thir Captive, and thir triumph; thou the sooner", "Temptation found'st, or over-potent charms", "To violate the sacred trust of silence", "Deposited within thee; which to have kept", "Tacit, was in thy power; true; and thou hear'st", "Enough, and more the burden of that fault;", "Bitterly hast thou paid, and still art paying", "That rigid score. A worse thing yet remains,", "This day the Philistines a popular Feast", "Here celebrate in Gaza, and proclaim", "Great Pomp, and Sacrifice, and Praises loud", "To Dagon, as their God who hath deliver'd", "Thee Samson bound and blind into thir hands,", "Them out of thine, who slew'st them many a slain.", "So Dagon shall be magnifi'd, and God,", "Besides whom is no God, compar'd with Idols,", "Disglorifi'd, blasphem'd, and had in scorn", "By th' Idolatrous rout amidst thir wine;", "Which to have come to pass by means of thee,", "Samson, of all thy sufferings think the heaviest,", "Of all reproach the most with shame that ever", "Could have befall'n thee and thy Fathers house.", "", "Sam: Father, I do acknowledge and confess", "That I this honour, I this pomp have brought", "To Dagon, and advanc'd his praises high", "Among the Heathen round; to God have brought", "Dishonour, obloquie, and op't the mouths", "Of Idolists, and Atheists; have brought scandal", "To Israel diffidence of God, and doubt", "In feeble hearts, propense anough before", "To waver, or fall off and joyn with Idols:", "Which is my chief affliction, shame and sorrow,", "The anguish of my Soul, that suffers not", "Mine eie to harbour sleep, or thoughts to rest.", "This only hope relieves me, that the strife", "With me hath end; all the contest is now", "'Twixt God and Dagon; Dagon hath presum'd,", "Me overthrown, to enter lists with God,", "His Deity comparing and preferring", "Before the God of Abraham. He, he sure,", "Will not connive, or linger, thus provok'd,", "But will arise and his great name assert:", "Dagon must stoop, and shall e're long receive", "Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him", "Of all these boasted Trophies won on me,", "And with confusion blank his Worshippers.", "", "Man: With cause this hope relieves thee, and these words", "I as a Prophecy receive: for God,", "Nothing more certain, will not long defer", "To vindicate the glory of his name", "Against all competition, nor will long", "Endure it, doubtful whether God be Lord,", "Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done?", "Thou must not in the mean while here forgot", "Lie in this miserable loathsom plight", "Neglected. I already have made way", "To some Philistian Lords, with whom to treat", "About thy ransom: well they may by this", "Have satisfi'd thir utmost of revenge", "By pains and slaveries, worse then death inflicted", "On thee, who now no more canst do them harm.", "", "Sam: Spare that proposal, Father, spare the trouble", "Of that sollicitation; let me here,", "As I deserve, pay on my punishment;", "And expiate, if possible, my crime,", "Shameful garrulity. To have reveal'd", "Secrets of men, the secrets of a friend,", "How hainous had the fact been, how deserving", "Contempt, and scorn of all, to be excluded", "All friendship, and avoided as a blab,", "The mark of fool set on his front?", "But I Gods counsel have not kept, his holy secret", "Presumptuously have publish'd, impiously,", "Weakly at least, and shamefully: A sin", "That Gentiles in thir Parables condemn", "To thir abyss and horrid pains confin'd.", "", "Man: Be penitent and for thy fault contrite,", "But act not in thy own affliction, Son,", "Repent the sin, but if the punishment", "Thou canst avoid, selfpreservation bids;", "Or th' execution leave to high disposal,", "And let another hand, not thine, exact", "Thy penal forfeit from thy self; perhaps", "God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;", "Who evermore approves and more accepts", "(Best pleas'd with humble and filial submission)", "Him who imploring mercy sues for life,", "Then who selfrigorous chooses death as due;", "Which argues overjust, and self-displeas'd", "For self-offence, more then for God offended.", "Reject not then what offerd means, who knows", "But God hath set before us, to return thee", "Home to thy countrey and his sacred house,", "Where thou mayst bring thy off'rings, to avert", "His further ire, with praiers and vows renew'd.", "", "Sam: His pardon I implore; but as for life,", "To what end should I seek it? when in strength", "All mortals I excell'd, and great in hopes", "With youthful courage and magnanimous thoughts", "Of birth from Heav'n foretold and high exploits,", "Full of divine instinct, after some proof", "Of acts indeed heroic, far beyond", "The Sons of Anac, famous now and blaz'd,", "Fearless of danger, like a petty God", "I walk'd about admir'd of all and dreaded", "On hostile ground, none daring my affront.", "Then swoll'n with pride into the snare I fell", "Of fair fallacious looks, venereal trains,", "Softn'd with pleasure and voluptuous life;", "At length to lay my head and hallow'd pledge", "Of all my strength in the lascivious lap", "Of a deceitful Concubine who shore me", "Like a tame Weather, all my precious fleece,", "Then turn'd me out ridiculous, despoil'd,", "Shav'n, and disarm'd among my enemies.", "", "Chor. Desire of wine and all delicious drinks,", "Which many a famous Warriour overturns,", "Thou couldst repress, nor did the dancing Rubie", "Sparkling; out-pow'rd, the flavor, or the smell,", "Or taste that cheers the heart of Gods and men,", "Allure thee from the cool Crystalline stream.", "", "Sam. Where ever fountain or fresh current flow'd", "Against the Eastern ray, translucent, pure,", "With touch aetherial of Heav'ns fiery rod", "I drank, from the clear milkie juice allaying", "Thirst, and refresht; nor envy'd them the grape", "Whose heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes.", "", "Chor. O madness, to think use of strongest wines", "And strongest drinks our chief support of health,", "When God with these forbid'n made choice to rear", "His mighty Champion, strong above compare,", "Whose drink was only from the liquid brook.", "", " Sam. But what avail'd this temperance, not compleat", "Against another object more enticing?", "What boots it at one gate to make defence,", "And at another to let in the foe", "Effeminatly vanquish't? by which means,", "Now blind, disheartn'd, sham'd, dishonour'd, quell'd,", "To what can I be useful, wherein serve", "My Nation, and the work from Heav'n impos'd,", "But to sit idle on the houshold hearth,", "A burdenous drone; to visitants a gaze,", "Or pitied object, these redundant locks", "Robustious to no purpose clustring down,", "Vain monument of strength; till length of years", "And sedentary numness craze my limbs", "To a contemptible old age obscure.", "Here rather let me drudge and earn my bread,", "Till vermin or the draff of servil food", "Consume me, and oft-invocated death", "Hast'n the welcom end of all my pains.", "", "Man. Wilt thou then serve the Philistines with that gift", "Which was expresly giv'n thee to annoy them?", "Better at home lie bed-rid, not only idle,", "Inglorious, unimploy'd, with age out-worn.", "But God who caus'd a fountain at thy prayer", "From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay", "After the brunt of battel, can as easie", "Cause light again within thy eies to spring,", "Wherewith to serve him better then thou hast;", "And I perswade me so; why else this strength", "Miraculous yet remaining in those locks?", "His might continues in thee not for naught,", "Nor shall his wondrous gifts be frustrate thus.", "", "Sam: All otherwise to me my thoughts portend,", "That these dark orbs no more shall treat with light,", "Nor th' other light of life continue long,", "But yield to double darkness nigh at hand:", "So much I feel my genial spirits droop,", "My hopes all flat, nature within me seems", "In all her functions weary of herself;", "My race of glory run, and race of shame,", "And I shall shortly be with them that rest.", "", "Man. Believe not these suggestions which proceed", "From anguish of the mind and humours black,", "That mingle with thy fancy. I however", "Must not omit a Fathers timely care", "To prosecute the means of thy deliverance", "By ransom or how else: mean while be calm,", "And healing words from these thy friends admit.", "", "Sam. O that torment should not be confin'd", "To the bodies wounds and sores", "With maladies innumerable", "In heart, head, brest, and reins;", "But must secret passage find", "To th' inmost mind,", "There exercise all his fierce accidents,", "And on her purest spirits prey,", "As on entrails, joints, and limbs,", "With answerable pains, but more intense,", "'Though void of corporal sense.", "My griefs not only pain me", "As a lingring disease,", "But finding no redress, ferment and rage,", "Nor less then wounds immedicable", "Ranckle, and fester, and gangrene,", "To black mortification.", "Thoughts my Tormenters arm'd with deadly stings", "Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,", "Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise", "Dire inflammation which no cooling herb", "Or rnedcinal liquor can asswage,", "Nor breath of Vernal Air from snowy Alp.", "Sleep hath forsook and giv'n me o're", "To deaths benumming Opium as my only cure.", "Thence faintings, swounings of despair,", "And sense of Heav'ns desertion.", "I was his nursling once and choice delight,", "His destin'd from the womb,", "Promisd by Heavenly message twice descending.", "Under his special eie", "Abstemious I grew up and thriv'd amain;", "He led me on to mightiest deeds", "Above the nerve of mortal arm", "Against the uncircumcis'd, our enemies.", "But now hath cast me off as never known,", "And to those cruel enemies,", "Whom I by his appointment had provok't,", "Left me all helpless with th' irreparable loss", "Of sight, reserv'd alive to be repeated", "The subject of thir cruelty, or scorn.", "Nor am I in the list of them that hope;", "Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless;", "This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,", "No long petition, speedy death,", "The close of all my miseries, and the balm.", "", "Chor: Many are the sayings of the wise", "In antient and in modern books enroll'd;", "Extolling Patience as the truest fortitude;", "And to the bearing well of all calamities,", "All chances incident to mans frail life", "Consolatories writ", "With studied argument, and much perswasion sought", "Lenient of grief and anxious thought,", "But with th' afflicted in his pangs thir sound", "Little prevails, or rather seems a tune,", "Harsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint,", "Unless he feel within", "Some sourse of consolation from above;", "Secret refreshings, that repair his strength,", "And fainting spirits uphold.", "God of our Fathers, what is man!", "That thou towards him with hand so various,", "Or might I say contrarious,", "Temperst thy providence through his short course,", "Not evenly, as thou rul'st", "The Angelic orders and inferiour creatures mute,", "Irrational and brute.", "Nor do I name of men the common rout,", "That wandring loose about", "Grow up and perish, as the summer flie,", "Heads without name no more rememberd,", "But such as thou hast solemnly elected,", "With gifts and graces eminently adorn'd", "To some great work, thy glory,", "And peoples safety, which in part they effect:", "Yet toward these thus dignifi'd, thou oft", "Amidst thir highth of noon,", "Changest thy countenance, and thy hand with no regard", "Of highest favours past", "From thee on them, or them to thee of service.", "Nor only dost degrade them, or remit", "To life obscur'd, which were a fair dismission,", "But throw'st them lower then thou didst exalt them high,", "Unseemly falls in human eie,", "Too grievous for the trespass or omission,", "Oft leav'st them to the hostile sword", "Of Heathen and prophane, thir carkasses", "To dogs and fowls a prey, or else captiv'd:", "Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times,", "And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude.", "If these they scape, perhaps in poverty", "With sickness and disease thou bow'st them down,", "Painful diseases and deform'd,", "In crude old age;", "Though not disordinate, yet causless suffring", "The punishment of dissolute days, in fine,", "Just or unjust, alike seem miserable,", "For oft alike, both come to evil end.", "So deal not with this once thy glorious Champion,", "The Image of thy strength, and mighty minister.", "What do I beg? how hast thou dealt already?", "Behold him in this state calamitous, and turn", "His labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end.", "But who is this, what thing of Sea or Land?", "Femal of sex it seems,", "That so bedeckt, ornate, and gay,", "Comes this way sailing", "Like a stately Ship", "Of Tarsus, bound for th' Isles", "Of Javan or Gadier", "With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,", "Sails fill'd, and streamers waving,", "Courted by all the winds that hold them play,", "An Amber sent of odorous perfume", "Her harbinger, a damsel train behind;", "Some rich Philistian Matron she may seem,", "And now at nearer view, no other certain", "Than Dalila thy wife.", "", "Sam: My Wife, my Traytress, let her not come near me.", "", "Cho: Yet on she moves, now stands & eies thee fixt,", "About t'have spoke, but now, with head declin'd", "Like a fair flower surcharg'd with dew, she weeps", "And words addrest seem into tears dissolv'd,", "Wetting the borders of her silk'n veil:", "But now again she makes address to speak.", "", "Dal: With doubtful feet and wavering resolution", "I came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson,", "Which to have merited, without excuse,", "I cannot but acknowledge; yet if tears", "May expiate (though the fact more evil drew", "In the perverse event then I foresaw)", "My penance hath not slack'n'd, though my pardon", "No way assur'd. But conjugal affection", "Prevailing over fear, and timerous doubt", "Hath led me on desirous to behold", "Once more thy face, and know of thy estate.", "If aught in my ability may serve", "To light'n what thou suffer'st, and appease", "Thy mind with what amends is in my power,", "Though late, yet in some part to recompense", "My rash but more unfortunate misdeed.", "", "Sam: Out, out Hyaena; these are thy wonted arts,", "And arts of every woman false like thee,", "To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray,", "Then as repentant to submit, beseech,", "And reconcilement move with feign'd remorse,", "Confess, and promise wonders in her change,", "Not truly penitent, but chief to try", "Her husband, how far urg'd his patience bears,", "His vertue or weakness which way to assail:", "Then with more cautious and instructed skill", "Again transgresses, and again submits;", "That wisest and best men full oft beguil'd", "With goodness principl'd not to reject", "The penitent, but ever to forgive,", "Are drawn to wear out miserable days,", "Entangl'd with a poysnous bosom snake,", "If not by quick destruction soon cut off", "As I by thee, to Ages an example.", "", "Dal: Yet hear me Samson; not that I endeavour", "To lessen or extenuate my offence,", "But that on th' other side if it be weigh'd", "By it self, with aggravations not surcharg'd,", "Or else with just allowance counterpois'd", "I may, if possible, thy pardon find", "The easier towards me, or thy hatred less.", "First granting, as I do, it was a weakness", "In me, but incident to all our sex,", "Curiosity, inquisitive, importune", "Of secrets, then with like infirmity", "To publish them, both common female faults:", "Was it not weakness also to make known", "For importunity, that is for naught,", "Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety?", "To what I did thou shewdst me first the way.", "But I to enemies reveal'd, and should not.", "Nor shouldst thou have trusted that to womans frailty", "E're I to thee, thou to thy self wast cruel.", "Let weakness then with weakness come to parl", "So near related, or the same of kind,", "Thine forgive mine; that men may censure thine", "The gentler, if severely thou exact not", "More strength from me, then in thy self was found.", "And what if Love, which thou interpret'st hate,", "The jealousie of Love, powerful of sway", "In human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee,", "Caus'd what I did? I saw thee mutable", "Of fancy, feard lest one day thou wouldst leave me", "As her at Timna, sought by all means therefore", "How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:", "No better way I saw then by importuning", "To learn thy secrets, get into my power", "Thy key of strength and safety: thou wilt say,", "Why then reveal'd? I was assur'd by those", "Who tempted me, that nothing was design'd", "Against thee but safe custody, and hold:", "That made for me, I knew that liberty", "Would draw thee forth to perilous enterprises,", "While I at home sate full of cares and fears", "Wailing thy absence in my widow'd bed;", "Here I should still enjoy thee day and night", "Mine and Loves prisoner, not the Philistines,", "Whole to my self, unhazarded abroad,", "Fearless at home of partners in my love.", "These reasons in Loves law have past for good,", "Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps:", "And Love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much wo,", "Yet always pity or pardon hath obtain'd.", "Be not unlike all others, not austere", "As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.", "If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed,", "In uncompassionate anger do not so.", "", "Sam: How cunningly the sorceress displays", "Her own transgressions, to upbraid me mine!", "That malice not repentance brought thee hither,", "By this appears : I gave, thou say'st, th' example,", "I led the way; bitter reproach, but true,", "I to my self was false e're thou to me,", "Such pardon therefore as I give my folly,", "Take to thy wicked deed: which when thou seest", "Impartial, self-severe, inexorable,", "Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much rather", "Confess it feign'd, weakness is thy excuse,", "And I believe it, weakness to resist", "Philistian gold: if weakness may excuse,", "What Murtherer, what Traytor, Parricide,", "Incestuous, Sacrilegious, but may plead it?", "All wickedness is weakness : that plea therefore", "With God or Man will gain thee no remission.", "But Love constrain'd thee; call it furious rage", "To satisfie thy lust: Love seeks to have Love;", "My love how couldst thou hope, who tookst the way", "To raise in me inexpiable hate,", "Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betray'd ?", "In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame,", "Or by evasions thy crime uncoverst more.", "", "Dal: Since thou determinst weakness for no plea", "In man or woman, though to thy own condemning,", "Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides,", "What sieges girt me round, e're I consented;", "Which might have aw'd the best resolv'd of men,", "The constantest to have yielded without blame.", "It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,", "That wrought with me: thou know'st the Magistrates", "And Princes of my countrey came in person,", "Sollicited, commanded, threatn'd, urg'd,", "Adjur'd by all the bonds of civil Duty", "And of Religion, press'd how just it was,", "How honourable, how glorious to entrap", "A common enemy, who had destroy'd", "Such numbers of our Nation : and the Priest", "Was not behind, but ever at my ear,", "Preaching how meritorious with the gods", "It would be to ensnare an irreligious", "Dishonourer of Dagon : what had I", "To oppose against such powerful arguments?", "Only my love of thee held long debate;", "And combated in silence all these reasons", "With hard contest: at length that grounded maxim", "So rife and celebrated in the mouths", "Of wisest men; that to the public good", "Private respects must yield; with grave authority'", "Took full possession of me and prevail'd;", "Vertue, as I thought, truth, duty so enjoyning.", "", "Sam: I thought where all thy circling wiles would end;", "In feign'd Religion, smooth hypocrisie.", "But had thy love, still odiously pretended,", "Bin, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught thee", "Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.", "I before all the daughters of my Tribe", "And of my Nation chose thee from among", "My enemies, lov'd thee, as too well thou knew'st,", "Too well, unbosom'd all my secrets to thee,", "Not out of levity, but over-powr'd", "By thy request, who could deny thee nothing;", "Yet now am judg'd an enemy. Why then", "Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband?", "Then, as since then, thy countries foe profest:", "Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave", "Parents and countrey; nor was I their subject,", "Nor under their protection but my own,", "Thou mine, not theirs: if aught against my life", "Thy countrey sought of thee, it sought unjustly,", "Against the law of nature, law of nations,", "No more thy countrey, but an impious crew", "Of men conspiring to uphold thir state", "By worse than hostile deeds, violating the ends", "For which our countrey is a name so dear;", "Not therefore to be obey'd. But zeal mov'd thee;", "To please thy gods thou didst it; gods unable", "To acquit themselves and prosecute their foes", "But by ungodly deeds, the contradiction", "Of their own deity, Gods cannot be:", "Less therefore to be pleas'd, obey'd, or fear'd,", "These false pretexts and varnish'd colours failing,", "Bare in thy guilt how foul must thou appear?", "", "Dal: In argument with men a woman ever", "Goes by the worse, whatever be her cause.", "", "Sam: For want of words no doubt, or lack of breath,", "Witness when I was worried with thy peals.", "", "Dal: I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistaken", "In what I thought would have succeeded best.", "Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson,", "Afford me place to shew what recompence", "Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone,", "Misguided: only what remains past cure", "Bear not too sensibly, nor still insist", "To afflict thy self in vain: though sight be lost,", "Life yet hath many solaces, enjoy'd", "Where other senses want not their delights", "At home in leisure and domestic ease,", "Exempt from many a care and chance to which", "Eye-sight exposes daily men abroad.", "I to the Lords will intercede, not doubting", "Thir favourable ear, that I may fetch thee", "From forth this loathsom prison-house, to abide", "With me, where my redoubl'd love and care", "With nursing diligence, to me glad office,", "May ever tend about thee to old age", "With all things grateful chear'd, and so suppli'd,", "That what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss.", "", "Sam: No, no, of my condition take no care;", "It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;", "Nor think me so unwary or accurst", "To bring my feet again into the snare", "Where once I have been caught; I know thy trains", "Though dearly to my cost, thy ginns, and toyls;", "Thy fair enchanted cup, and warbling charms", "No more on me have power, their force is null'd,", "So much of Adders wisdom I have learn't", "To fence my ear against thy sorceries.", "If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men", "Lov'd, honour'd, fear'd me, thou alone could hate me", "Thy Husband, slight me, sell me, and forgo me;", "How wouldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby", "Deceiveable, in most things as a child", "Helpless, thence easily contemn'd, and scorn'd,", "And last neglected? How wouldst thou insult", "When I must live uxorious to thy will", "In perfet thraldom, how again betray me,", "Bearing my words and doings to the Lords", "To gloss upon, and censuring, frown or smile?", "This Gaol I count the house of Liberty", "To thine whose doors my feet shall never enter.", "", "Dal: Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.", "", "Sam: Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wake", "My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.", "At distance I forgive thee, go with that;", "Bewail thy falshood, and the pious works", "It hath brought forth to make thee memorable", "Among illustrious women, faithful wives:", "Cherish thy hast'n'd widowhood with the gold", "Of Matrimonial treason: so farewel.", "", "Dal: I see thou art implacable, more deaf", "To prayers, then winds and seas, yet winds to seas", "Are reconcil'd at length, and Sea to Shore:", "Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages,", "Eternal tempest never to be calm'd.", "Why do I humble thus my self, and suing", "For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?", "Bid go with evil omen and the brand", "Of infamy upon my name denounc't?", "To mix with thy concernments I desist", "Henceforth, nor too much disapprove my own.", "Fame if not double-fac't is double-mouth'd,", "And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds,", "On both his wings, one black, th' other white,", "Bears greatest names in his wild aerie flight.", "My name perhaps among the Circumcis'd", "In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering Tribes,", "To all posterity may stand defam'd,", "With malediction mention'd, and the blot", "Of falshood most unconjugal traduc't.", "But in my countrey where I most desire,", "In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath", "I shall be nam'd among the famousest", "Of Women, sung at solemn festivals,", "Living and dead recorded, who to save", "Her countrey from a fierce destroyer, chose", "Above the faith of wedlock-bands, my tomb", "With odours visited and annual flowers.", "Not less renown'd then in Mount Ephraim,", "Jael who with inhospitable guile", "Smote Sisera sleeping through the Temples nail'd.", "Nor shall I count it hainous to enjoy", "The public marks of honour and reward", "Conferr'd upon me, for the piety", "Which to my countrey I was judg'd to have shewn.", "At this who ever envies or repines", "I leave him to his lot, and like my own.", "", "Chor: She's gone, a manifest Serpent by her sting", "Discover'd in the end, till now conceal'd.", "", "Sam: So let her go, God sent her to debase me,", "And aggravate my folly who committed", "To such a viper his most sacred trust", "Of secresie, my safety, and my life.", "", "Chor: Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,", "After offence returning, to regain", "Love once possest, nor can be easily", "Repuls't, without much inward passion felt", "And secret sting of amorous remorse.", "", "Sam: Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end,", "Not wedlock-trechery endangering life.", "", "Chor: It is not vertue, wisdom, valour, wit,", "Strength, comliness of shape, or amplest merit", "That womans love can win or long inherit;", "But what it is, hard is to say,", "Harder to hit,", "(Which way soever men refer it)", "Much like thy riddle, Samson, in one day", "Or seven, though one should musing sit;", "If any of these or all, the Timnian bride", "Had not so soon preferr'd", "Thy Paranymph, worthless to thee compar'd,", "Successour in thy bed,", "Nor both so loosly disally'd", "Thir nuptials, nor this last so trecherously", "Had shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.", "Is it for that such outward ornament", "Was lavish't on thir Sex, that inward gifts", "Were left for hast unfinish't, judgment scant,", "Capacity not rais'd to apprehend", "Or value what is best", "In choice, but oftest to affect the wrong?", "Or was too much of self-love mixt,", "Of constancy no root infixt,", "That either they love nothing, or not long?", "What e're it be, to wisest men and best", "Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil,", "Soft, modest, meek, demure,", "Once join'd, the contrary she proves, a thorn", "Intestin, far within defensive arms", "A cleaving mischief, in his way to vertue", "Adverse and turbulent, or by her charms", "Draws him awry enslav'd", "With dotage, and his sense deprav'd", "To folly and shameful deeds which ruin ends.", "What Pilot so expert but needs must wreck", "Embarqu'd with such a Stears-mate at the Helm?", "Favour'd of Heav'n who finds", "One vertuous rarely found,", "That in domestic good combines:", "Happy that house! his way to peace is smooth:", "But vertue which breaks through all opposition,", "And all temptation can remove,", "Most shines and most is acceptable above.", "Therefore Gods universal Law", "Gave to the man despotic power", "Over his female in due awe,", "Nor from that right to part an hour,", "Smile she or lowre:", "So shall he least confusion draw", "On his whole life, not sway'd", "By female usurpation, nor dismay'd.", "But had we best retire, I see a storm?", "", "Sam: Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.", "", "Chor: But this another kind of tempest brings.", "", "Sam: Be less abstruse, my riddling days are past.", "", "Chor: Look now for no inchanting voice, nor fear", "The bait of honied words; a rougher tongue", "Draws hitherward, I know him by his stride,", "The Giant Harapha of Gath, his look", "Haughty as is his pile high-built and proud.", "Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him hither", "I less conjecture then when first I saw", "The sumptuous Dalila floating this way:", "His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.", "", "Sam: Or peace or not, alike to me he comes.", "", "Chor: His fraught we soon shall know, he now arrives.", "", "Har: I come not Samson, to condole thy chance,", "As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been,", "Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath,", "Men call me Harapha, of stock renown'd", "As Og or Anak and the Emims old", "That Kiriathaim held, thou knowst me now", "If thou at all art known. Much I have heard", "Of thy prodigious might and feats perform'd", "Incredible to me, in this displeas'd,", "That I was never present on the place", "Of those encounters, where we might have tri'd", "Each others force in camp or listed field:", "And now am come to see of whom such noise", "Hath walk'd about, and each limb to survey,", "If thy appearance answer loud report.", "", "Sam: The way to know were not to see but taste.", "", "Har: Dost thou already single me; I thought", "Gives and the Mill had tam'd thee? O that fortune", "Had brought me to the field where thou art fam'd", "To have wrought such wonders with an Asses Jaw;", "I should have forc'd thee soon with other arms,", "Or left thy carkass where the Ass lay thrown:", "So had the glory of Prowess been recover'd", "To Palestine, won by a Philistine", "From the unforeskinn'd race, of whom thou hear'st", "The highest name for valiant Acts, that honour", "Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee,", "I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out.", "", "Sam: Boast not of what thou wouldst have done, but do", "What then thou would'st, thou seest it in thy hand.", "", "Har: To combat with a blind man I disdain", "And thou hast need much washing to be toucht.", "", "Sam: Such usage as your honourable Lords", "Afford me assassinated and betray'd,", "Who durst not with thir whole united powers", "In fight withstand me single and unarm'd,", "Nor in the house with chamber Ambushes", "Close-banded durst attaque me, no not sleeping,", "Till they had hir'd a woman with their gold", "Breaking her Marriage Faith to circumvent me.", "Therefore without feign'd shifts let be assign'd", "Some narrow place enclos'd, where sight may give thee.", "Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;", "Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy Helmet", "And Brigandine of brass, thy broad Habergeon.", "Vant-brass and Greves, and Gauntlet, add thy Spear", "A Weavers beam, and seven-times-folded shield.", "I only with an Oak'n staff will meet thee,", "And raise such out-cries on thy clatter'd Iron,", "Which long shall not with-hold mee from thy head,", "That in a little time while breath remains thee,", "Thou oft shalt wish thy self at Gath to boast", "Again in safety what thou wouldst have done", "To Samson, but shalt never see Gath more.", "", "Har: Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms", "Which greatest Heroes have in battel worn,", "Thir ornament and safety, had not spells", "And black enchantments, some Magicians Art", "Arm'd thee or charm'd thee strong, which thou from Heaven", "Feigndst at thy birth was giv'n thee in thy hair,", "Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairs", "Were bristles rang'd like those that ridge the back", "Of chaf't wild Boars, or ruffl'd Porcupines.", "", "Sam: I know no Spells, use no forbidden Arts;", "My trust is in the living God who gave me", "At my Nativity this strength, diffus'd", "No less through all my sinews, joints and bones,", "Then thine, while I preserv'd these locks unshorn,", "The pledge of my unviolated vow.", "For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god,", "Go to his Temple, invocate his aid", "With solemnest devotion, spread before him", "How highly it concerns his glory now", "To frustrate and dissolve these Magic spells,", "Which I to be the power of Israel's God", "Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,", "Offering to combat thee his Champion bold,", "With th' utmost of his Godhead seconded:", "Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrow", "Soon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine.", "", "Har: Presume not on thy God, what e're he be,", "Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut off", "Quite from his people, and delivered up", "Into thy Enemies hand, permitted them", "To put out both thine eyes, and fetter'd send thee", "Into the common Prison, there to grind", "Among the Slaves and Asses thy comrades,", "As good for nothing else, no better service", "With those, thy boyst'rous locks, no worthy match", "For valour to assail, nor by the sword", "Of noble Warriour, so to stain his honour,", "But by the Barbers razor best subdu'd.", "", "Sam: All these indignities, for such they are", "From thine, these evils I deserve and more,", "Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me", "Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon", "Whose ear is ever open; and his eye", "Gracious to re-admit the suppliant;", "In confidence whereof I once again", "Defie thee to the trial of mortal fight,", "By combat to decide whose god is God,", "Thine or whom I with Israel's Sons adore.", "", "Har: Fair honour that thou dost thy God, in trusting", "He will accept thee to defend his cause,", "A Murtherer, a Revolter, and a Robber.", "", "Sam: Tongue-doubtie Giant, how dost thou prove me these?", "", "Har: Is not thy Nation subject to our Lords?", "Thir Magistrates confest it, when they took thee", "As a League-breaker and deliver'd bound", "Into our hands: for hadst thou not committed", "Notorious murder on those thirty men", "At Askalon, who never did thee harm,", "Then like a Robber stripdst them of thir robes?", "The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league,", "Went up with armed powers thee only seeking,", "To others did no violence nor spoil.", "", "Sam: Among the Daughters of the Philistines", "I chose a Wife, which argu'd me no foe;", "And in your City held my Nuptial Feast:", "But your ill-meaning Politician Lords,", "Under pretence of Bridal friends and guests,", "Appointed to await me thirty spies,", "Who threatning cruel death constrain'd the bride", "To wring from me and tell to them my secret,", "That solv'd the riddle which I had propos'd.", "When I perceiv'd all set on enmity,", "As on my enemies, where ever chanc'd,", "I us'd hostility, and took thir spoil", "To pay my underminers in thir coin.", "My Nation was subjected to your Lords.", "It was the force of Conquest; force with force", "Is well ejected when the Conquer'd can.", "But I a private person, whom my Countrey", "As a league-breaker gave up bound, presum'd", "Single Rebellion and did Hostile Acts.", "I was no private but a person rais'd", "With strength sufficient and command from Heav'n", "To free my Countrey; if their servile minds", "Me their Deliverer sent would not receive,", "But to thir Masters gave me up for nought,", "Th' unworthier they; whence to this day they serve.", "I was to do my part from Heav'n assign'd,", "And had perform'd it if my known offence", "Had not disabl'd me, not all your force:", "These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant", "Though by his blindness maim'd for high attempts,", "Who now defies thee thrice to single fight,", "As a petty enterprise of small enforce.", "", "Har: With thee a Man condemn'd, a Slave enrol'd,", "Due by the Law to capital punishment?", "To fight with thee no man of arms will deign.", "", "Sam: Cam'st thou for this, vain boaster, to survey me,", "To descant on my strength, and give thy verdit?", "Come nearer, part not hence so slight inform'd;", "But take good heed my hand survey not thee.", "Har: O Baal-zebub! can my ears unus'd", "Hear these dishonours, and not render death?", "", "Sam: No man with-holds thee, nothing from thy hand", "Fear I incurable; bring up thy van,", "My heels are fetter'd, but my fist is free.", "", "Har: This insolence other kind of answer fits.", "", "Sam: Go baffl'd coward, lest I run upon thee,", "Though in these chains, bulk without spirit vast,", "And with one buffet lay thy structure low,", "Or swing thee in the Air, then dash thee down", "To the hazard of thy brains and shatter'd sides.", "", "Har: By Astaroth e're long thou shalt lament", "These braveries in Irons loaden on thee.", "", "Chor: His Giantship is gone somewhat crestfall'n,", "Stalking with less unconsci'nable strides,", "And lower looks, but in a sultrie chafe.", "", "Sam: I dread him not, nor all his Giant-brood,", "Though Fame divulge him Father of five Sons", "All of Gigantic size, Goliah chief.", "", "Chor: He will directly to the Lords, I fear,", "And with malitious counsel stir them up", "Some way or other yet further to afflict thee.", "", "Sam: He must allege some cause, and offer'd fight", "Will not dare mention, lest a question rise", "Whether he durst accept the offer or not,", "And that he durst not plain enough appear'd.", "Much more affliction then already felt", "They cannot well impose, nor I sustain;", "If they intend advantage of my labours", "The work of many hands, which earns my keeping", "With no small profit daily to my owners.", "But come what will, my deadliest foe will prove", "My speediest friend, by death to rid me hence,", "The worst that he can give, to me the best.", "Yet so it may fall out, because thir end", "Is hate, not help to me, it may with mine", "Draw thir own ruin who attempt the deed.", "", "Chor: Oh how comely it is and how reviving", "To the Spirits of just men long opprest!", "When God into the hands of thir deliverer", "Puts invincible might", "To quell the mighty of the Earth, th' oppressour,", "The brute and boist'rous force of violent men", "Hardy and industrious to support", "Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue", "The righteous and all such as honour Truth;", "He all thir Ammunition", "And feats of War defeats", "With plain Heroic magnitude of mind", "And celestial vigour arm'd,", "Thir Armories and Magazins contemns,", "Renders them useless, while", "With winged expedition", "Swift as the lightning glance he executes", "His errand on the wicked, who surpris'd", "Lose thir defence distracted and amaz'd.", "But patience is more oft the exercise", "Of Saints, the trial of thir fortitude,", "Making them each his own Deliverer,", "And Victor over all", "That tyrannie or fortune can inflict,", "Either of these is in thy lot,", "Samson, with might endu'd", "Above the Sons of men; but sight bereav'd", "May chance to number thee with those", "Whom Patience finally must crown.", "This Idols day hath bin to thee no day of rest,", "Labouring thy mind", "More then the working day thy hands,", "And yet perhaps more trouble is behind.", "For I descry this way", "Some other tending, in his hand", "A Scepter or quaint staff he bears,", "Comes on amain, speed in his look.", "By his habit I discern him now", "A Public Officer, and now at hand.", "His message will be short and voluble.", "", "Off: Ebrews, the Pris'ner Samson here I seek.", "", "Chor: His manacles remark him, there he sits.", "", "Off: Samson, to thee our Lords thus bid me say;", "This day to Dagon is a solemn Feast,", "With Sacrifices, Triumph, Pomp, and Games;", "Thy strength they know surpassing human rate,", "And now some public proof thereof require", "To honour this great Feast, and great Assembly;", "Rise therefore with all speed and come along,", "Where I will see thee heartn'd and fresh clad", "To appear as fits before th' illustrious Lords.", "", "Sam: Thou knowst I am an Ebrew, therefore tell them,", "Our Law forbids at thir Religious Rites", "My presence; for that cause I cannot come.", "", "Off: This answer, be assur'd, wi" ], "linecount": "1417" }, { "title": "Comus", "author": "John Milton", "lines": [ "A Masque Presented At Ludlow Castle, 1634, Before", "", "The Earl Of Bridgewater, Then President Of Wales.", "", "The Persons", "", " The ATTENDANT SPIRIT, afterwards in the habit of THYRSIS.", "COMUS, with his Crew.", "The LADY.", "FIRST BROTHER.", "SECOND BROTHER.", "SABRINA, the Nymph.", "", "The Chief Persons which presented were:—", "", "The Lord Brackley;", "Mr. Thomas Egerton, his Brother;", "The Lady Alice Egerton.", "", "", "The first Scene discovers a wild wood.", "The ATTENDANT SPIRIT descends or enters.", "", "", "BEFORE the starry threshold of Jove's court", "My mansion is, where those immortal shapes", "Of bright aerial spirits live insphered", "In regions mild of calm and serene air,", "Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot", "Which men call Earth, and, with low-thoughted care,", "Confined and pestered in this pinfold here,", "Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being,", "Unmindful of the crown that Virtue gives,", "After this mortal change, to her true servants", "Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats.", "Yet some there be that by due steps aspire", "To lay their just hands on that golden key", "That opes the palace of eternity.", "To Such my errand is; and, but for such,", "I would not soil these pure ambrosial weeds", "With the rank vapours of this sin-worn mould.", " But to my task. Neptune, besides the sway", "Of every salt flood and each ebbing stream,", "Took in by lot, 'twixt high and nether Jove,", "Imperial rule of all the sea-girt isles", "That, like to rich and various gems, inlay", "The unadorned bosom of the deep;", "Which he, to grace his tributary gods,", "By course commits to several government,", "And gives them leave to wear their sapphire crowns", "And wield their little tridents. But this Isle,", "The greatest and the best of all the main,", "He quarters to his blue-haired deities;", "And all this tract that fronts the falling sun", "A noble Peer of mickle trust and power", "Has in his charge, with tempered awe to guide", "An old and haughty nation, proud in arms:", "Where his fair offspring, nursed in princely lore,", "Are coming to attend their father's state,", "And new-intrusted sceptre. But their way", "Lies through the perplexed paths of this drear wood,", "The nodding horror of whose shady brows", "Threats the forlorn and wandering passenger;", "And here their tender age might suffer peril,", "But that, by quick command from sovran Jove,", "I was despatched for their defence and guard:", "And listen why; for I will tell you now", "What never yet was heard in tale or song,", "From old or modern bard, in hall or bower.", " Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape", "Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine,", "After the Tuscan mariners transformed,", "Coasting the Tyrrhene shore, as the winds listed,", "On Circe's island fell. (Who knows not Circe,", "The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup", "Whoever tasted lost his upright shape,", "And downward fell into a grovelling swine?)", "This Nymph, that gazed upon his clustering locks,", "With ivy berries wreathed, and his blithe youth,", "Had by him, ere he parted thence, a son", "Much like his father, but his mother more,", "Whom therefore she brought up, and Comus named:", "Who, ripe and frolic of his full-grown age,", "Roving the Celtic and Iberian fields,", "At last betakes him to this ominous wood,", "And, in thick shelter of black shades imbowered,", "Excels his mother at her mighty art;", "Offering to every weary traveller", "His orient liquor in a crystal glass,", "To quench the drouth of Phoebus; which as they taste", "(For most do taste through fond intemperate thirst),", "Soon as the potion works, their human count'nance,", "The express resemblance of the gods, is changed", "Into some brutish form of wolf or bear,", "Or ounce or tiger, hog, or bearded goat,", "All other parts remaining as they were.", "And they, so perfect is their misery,", "Not once perceive their foul disfigurement,", "But boast themselves more comely than before,", "And all their friends and native home forget,", "To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.", "Therefore, when any favoured of high Jove", "Chances to pass through this adventurous glade,", "Swift as the sparkle of a glancing star", "I shoot from heaven, to give him safe convoy,", "As now I do. But first I must put off", "These my sky-robes, spun out of Iris' woof,", "And take the weeds and likeness of a swain", "That to the service of this house belongs,", "Who, with his soft pipe and smooth-dittied song,", "Well knows to still the wild winds when they roar,", "And hush the waving woods; nor of less faith", "And in this office of his mountain watch", "Likeliest, and nearest to the present aid", "Of this occasion. But I hear the tread", "Of hateful steps; I must be viewless now.", "", "", "COMUS enters, with a charming-rod in one hand, his glass in the", "other: with him a rout of monsters, headed like sundry sorts of", "wild", "beasts, but otherwise like men and women, their apparel", "glistering.", "They come in making a riotous and unruly noise, with torches in", "their hands.", "", "", " COMUS. The star that bids the shepherd fold", "Now the top of heaven doth hold;", "And the gilded car of day", "His glowing axle doth allay", "In the steep Atlantic stream;", "And the slope sun his upward beam", "Shoots against the dusky pole,", "Pacing toward the other goal", "Of his chamber in the east.", "Meanwhile, welcome joy and feast,", "Midnight shout and revelry,", "Tipsy dance and jollity.", "Braid your locks with rosy twine,", "Dropping odours, dropping wine.", "Rigour now is gone to bed;", "And Advice with scrupulous head,", "Strict Age, and sour Severity,", "With their grave saws, in slumber lie.", "We, that are of purer fire,", "Imitate the starry quire,", "Who, in their nightly watchful spheres,", "Lead in swift round the months and years.", "The sounds and seas, with all their finny drove,", "Now to the moon in wavering morrice move;", "And on the tawny sands and shelves", "Trip the pert fairies and the dapper elves.", "By dimpled brook and fountain-brim,", "The wood-nymphs, decked with daisies trim,", "Their merry wakes and pastimes keep:", "What hath night to do with sleep?", "Night hath better sweets to prove;", "Venus now wakes, and wakens Love.", "Come, let us our rights begin;", "'T is only daylight that makes sin,", "Which these dun shades will ne'er report.", "Hail, goddess of nocturnal sport,", "Dark-veiled Cotytto, to whom the secret flame", "Of midnight torches burns! mysterious dame,", "That ne'er art called but when the dragon womb", "Of Stygian darkness spets her thickest gloom,", "And makes one blot of all the air!", "Stay thy cloudy ebon chair,", "Wherein thou ridest with Hecat', and befriend", "Us thy vowed priests, till utmost end", "Of all thy dues be done, and none left out,", "Ere the blabbing eastern scout,", "The nice Morn on the Indian steep,", "From her cabined loop-hole peep,", "And to the tell-tale Sun descry", "Our concealed solemnity.", "Come, knit hands, and beat the ground", "In a light fantastic round.", "", " The Measure.", "", " Break off, break off! I feel the different pace", "Of some chaste footing near about this ground.", "Run to your shrouds within these brakes and trees;", "Our number may affright. Some virgin sure", "(For so I can distinguish by mine art)", "Benighted in these woods! Now to my charms,", "And to my wily trains: I shall ere long", "Be well stocked with as fair a herd as grazed", "About my mother Circe. Thus I hurl", "My dazzling spells into the spongy air,", "Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion,", "And give it false presentments, lest the place", "And my quaint habits breed astonishment,", "And put the damsel to suspicious flight;", "Which must not be, for that's against my course.", "I, under fair pretence of friendly ends,", "And well-placed words of glozing courtesy,", "Baited with reasons not unplausible,", "Wind me into the easy-hearted man,", "And hug him into snares. When once her eye", "Hath met the virtue of this magic dust,", "I shall appear some harmless villager", "Whom thrift keeps up about his country gear.", "But here she comes; I fairly step aside,", "And hearken, if I may her business hear.", "", "The LADY enters.", "", " LADY. This way the noise was, if mine ear be true,", "My best guide now. Methought it was the sound", "Of riot and ill-managed merriment,", "Such as the jocund flute or gamesome pipe", "Stirs up among the loose unlettered hinds,", "When, for their teeming flocks and granges full,", "In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan,", "And thank the gods amiss. I should be loth", "To meet the rudeness and swilled insolence", "Of such late wassailers; yet, oh! where else", "Shall I inform my unacquainted feet", "In the blind mazes of this tangled wood?", "My brothers, when they saw me wearied out", "With this long way, resolving here to lodge", "Under the spreading favour of these pines,", "Stepped, as they said, to the next thicket-side", "To bring me berries, or such cooling fruit", "As the kind hospitable woods provide.", "They left me then when the grey-hooded Even,", "Like a sad votarist in palmer's weed,", "Rose from the hindmost wheels of Phoebus' wain.", "But where they are, and why they came not back,", "Is now the labour of my thoughts. TTis likeliest", "They had engaged their wandering steps too far;", "And envious darkness, ere they could return,", "Had stole them from me. Else, O thievish Night,", "Why shouldst thou, but for some felonious end,", "In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars", "That Nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps", "With everlasting oil to give due light", "To the misled and lonely traveller?", "This is the place, as well as I may guess,", "Whence even now the tumult of loud mirth", "Was rife, and perfect in my listening ear;", "Yet nought but single darkness do I find.", "What might this be ? A thousand fantasies", "Begin to throng into my memory,", "Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire,", "And airy tongues that syllable men's names", "On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.", "These thoughts may startle well, but not astound", "The virtuous mind, that ever walks attended", "By a strong siding champion, Conscience.", "O, welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white-handed Hope,", "Thou hovering angel girt with golden wings,", "And thou unblemished form of Chastity!", "I see ye visibly, and now believe", "That He, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill", "Are but as slavish officers of vengeance,", "Would send a glistering guardian, if need were,", "To keep my life and honour unassailed. . . .", "Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud", "Turn forth her silver lining on the night?", "I did not err: there does a sable cloud", "Turn forth her silver lining on the night,", "And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.", "I cannot hallo to my brothers, but", "Such noise as I can make to be heard farthest", "I'll venture; for my new-enlivened spirits", "Prompt me, and they perhaps are not far off.", "", "Song.", "", "Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen", " Within thy airy shell", " By slow Meander's margent green,", "And in the violet-embroidered vale", " Where the love-lorn nightingale", "Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well:", "Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair", " That likest thy Narcissus are?", " O, if thou have", " Hid them in some flowery cave,", " Tell me but where,", " Sweet Queen of Parley, Daughter of the Sphere!", " So may'st thou be translated to the skies,", "And give resounding grace to all Heaven's harmonies!", "", "", " COMUS. Can any mortal mixture of earthUs mould", "Breathe such divine enchanting ravishment?", "Sure something holy lodges in that breast,", "And with these raptures moves the vocal air", "To testify his hidden residence.", "How sweetly did they float upon the wings", "Of silence, through the empty-vaulted night,", "At every fall smoothing the raven down", "Of darkness till it smiled! I have oft heard", "My mother Circe with the Sirens three,", "Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades,", "Culling their potent herbs and baleful drugs,", "Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul,", "And lap it in Elysium: Scylla wept,", "And chid her barking waves into attention,", "And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause.", "Yet they in pleasing slumber lulled the sense,", "And in sweet madness robbed it of itself;", "But such a sacred and home-felt delight,", "Such sober certainty of waking bliss,", "I never heard till now. I'll speak to her,", "And she shall be my queen.QHail, foreign wonder!", "Whom certain these rough shades did never breed,", "Unless the goddess that in rural shrine", "Dwell'st here with Pan or Sylvan, by blest song", "Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog", "To touch the prosperous growth of this tall wood.", " LADY. Nay, gentle shepherd, ill is lost that praise", "That is addressed to unattending ears.", "Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift", "How to regain my severed company,", "Compelled me to awake the courteous Echo", "To give me answer from her mossy couch.", " COMUS: What chance, good lady, hath bereft you thus?", " LADY. Dim darkness and this leafy labyrinth.", " COMUS. Could that divide you from near-ushering guides?", " LADY. They left me weary on a grassy turf.", " COMUS. By falsehood, or discourtesy, or why?", " LADY. To seek i' the valley some cool friendly spring.", " COMUS. And left your fair side all unguarded, Lady?", " LADY. They were but twain, and purposed quick return.", " COMUS. Perhaps forestalling night prevented them.", " LADY. How easy my misfortune is to hit!", " COMUS. Imports their loss, beside the present need?", " LADY. No less than if I should my brothers lose.", " COMUS. Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom?", " LADY. As smooth as Hebe's their unrazored lips.", " COMUS. Two such I saw, what time the laboured ox", "In his loose traces from the furrow came,", "And the swinked hedger at his supper sat.", "I saw them under a green mantling vine,", "That crawls along the side of yon small hill,", "Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots;", "Their port was more than human, as they stood.", "I took it for a faery vision", "Of some gay creatures of the element,", "That in the colours of the rainbow live,", "And play i' the plighted clouds. I was awe-strook,", "And, as I passed, I worshiped. If those you seek,", "It were a journey like the path to Heaven", "To help you find them.", " LADY. Gentle villager,", "What readiest way would bring me to that place?", " COMUS. Due west it rises from this shrubby point.", " LADY. To find out that, good shepherd, I suppose,", "In such a scant allowance of star-light,", "Would overtask the best land-pilot's art,", "Without the sure guess of well-practised feet.", " COMUS. I know each lane, and every alley green,", "Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood,", "And every bosky bourn from side to side,", "My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood;", "And, if your stray attendance be yet lodged,", "Or shroud within these limits, I shall know", "Ere morrow wake, or the low-roosted lark", "From her thatched pallet rouse. If otherwise,", "I can conduct you, Lady, to a low", "But loyal cottage, where you may be safe", "Till further quest.", " LADY. Shepherd, I take thy word,", "And trust thy honest-offered courtesy,", "Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds,", "With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls", "And courts of princes, where it first was named,", "And yet is most pretended. In a place", "Less warranted than this, or less secure,", "I cannot be, that I should fear to change it.", "Eye me, blest Providence, and square my trial", "To my proportioned strength! Shepherd, lead on.", "", "The TWO BROTHERS.", "", " ELD. BRO. Unmuffle, ye faint stars; and thou, fair moon,", "That wont'st to love the traveller's benison,", "Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud,", "And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here", "In double night of darkness and of shades;", "Or, if your influence be quite dammed up", "With black usurping mists, some gentle taper,", "Though a rush-candle from the wicker hole", "Of some clay habitation, visit us", "With thy long levelled rule of streaming light,", "And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,", "Or Tyrian Cynosure.", " SEC. BRO. Or, if our eyes", "Be barred that happiness, might we but hear", "The folded flocks, penned in their wattled cotes,", "Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops,", "Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock", "Count the night-watches to his feathery dames,", "'T would be some solace yet, some little cheering,", "In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs.", "But, oh, that hapless virgin, our lost sister!", "Where may she wander now, whither betake her", "From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles", "Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now,", "Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm", "Leans her unpillowed head, fraught with sad fears.", "What if in wild amazement and affright,", "Or, while we speak, within the direful grasp", "Of savage hunger, or of savage heat!", " ELD. BRO. Peace, brother: be not over-exquisite", "To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;", "For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown,", "What need a man forestall his date of grief,", "And run to meet what he would most avoid?", "Or, if they be but false alarms of fear,", "How bitter is such self-delusion!", "I do not think my sister so to seek,", "Or so unprincipled in virtue's book,", "And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever,", "As that the single want of light and noise", "(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not)", "Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts,", "And put them into misbecoming plight.", "Virtue could see to do what Virtue would", "By her own radiant light, though sun and moon", "Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom's self", "Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude,", "Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation,", "She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,", "That, in the various bustle of resort,", "Were all to-ruffled, and sometimes impaired.", "He that has light within his own clear breast", "May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day:", "But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts", "Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;", "Himself is his own dungeon.", " SEC. BRO. 'Tis most true", "That musing meditation most affects", "The pensive secrecy of desert cell,", "Far from the cheerful haunt of men and herds,", "And sits as safe as in a senate house", "For who would rob a hermit of his weeds,", "His few books, or his beads, or maple dish,", "Or do his grey hairs any violence?", "But Beauty, like the fair Hesperian tree", "Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard", "Of dragon-watch with unenchanted eye", "To save her blossoms, and defend her fruit,", "From the rash hand of bold Incontinence.", "You may as well spread out the unsunned heaps", "Of miser's treasure by an outlaw's den,", "And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope", "Danger will wink on Opportunity,", "And let a single helpless maiden pass", "Uninjured in this wild surrounding waste.", "Of night or loneliness it recks me not;", "I fear the dread events that dog them both,", "Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person", "Of our unowned sister.", " ELD. BRO. I do not, brother,", "Infer as if I thought my sister's state", "Secure without all doubt or controversy;", "Yet, where an equal poise of hope and fear", "Does arbitrate the event, my nature is", "That I incline to hope rather than fear,", "And gladly banish squint suspicion.", "My sister is not so defenceless left", "As you imagine; she has a hidden strength,", "Which you remember not.", " SEC. BRO.. What hidden strength,", "Unless the strength of Heaven, if you mean that?", " ELD. BRO. I mean that too, but yet a hidden strength,", "Which, if Heaven gave it, may be termed her own.", "'Tis chastity, my brother, chastity:", "She that has that is clad in complete steel,", "And, like a quivered nymph with arrows keen,", "May trace huge forests, and unharboured heaths,", "Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds;", "Where, through the sacred rays of chastity,", "No savage fierce, bandite, or mountaineer,", "Will dare to soil her virgin purity.", "Yea, there where very desolation dwells,", "By grots and caverns shagged with horrid shades,", "She may pass on with unblenched majesty,", "Be it not done in pride, or in presumption.", "Some say no evil thing that walks by night,", "In fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen,", "Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost,", "That breaks his magic chains at curfew time,", "No goblin or swart faery of the mine,", "Hath hurtful power o'er true virginity.", "Do ye believe me yet, or shall I call", "Antiquity from the old schools of Greece", "To testify the arms of chastity?", "Hence had the huntress Dian her dread bow", "Fair silver-shafted queen for ever chaste,", "Wherewith she tamed the brinded lioness", "And spotted mountain-pard, but set at nought", "The frivolous bolt of Cupid; gods and men", "Feared her stern frown, and she was queen o' the woods.", "What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield", "That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,", "Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,", "But rigid looks of chaste austerity,", "And noble grace that dashed brute violence", "With sudden adoration and blank awe?", "So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity", "That, when a soul is found sincerely so,", "A thousand liveried angels lackey her,", "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,", "And in clear dream and solemn vision", "Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear;", "Till oft converse with heavenly habitants", "Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape,", "The unpolluted temple of the mind,", "And turns it by degrees to the soul's essence,", "Till all be made immortal. But, when lust,", "By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk,", "But most by lewd and lavish act of sin,", "Lets ill defilement to the inward parts,", "The soul grows clotted by contagion,", "Imbodies, and imbrutes, till she quite loose", "The divine property of her first being.", "Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp", "Oft seen in charnel-vaults and sepulchres,", "Lingering and sitting by a new-made grave,", "As loth to leave the body that it loved,", "And linked itself by carnal sensualty", "To a degenerate and degraded state.", " SEC. BRO. How charming is divine Philosophy!", "Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,", "But musical as is Apollo's lute,", "And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets,", "Where no crude surfeit reigns.", " Eld. Bro. List!", "list! I hear", "Some far-off hallo break the silent air.", " SEC. BRO. Methought so too; what should it be?", " ELD. BRO. For", "certain.", "Either some one, like us, night-foundered here,", "Or else some neighbour woodman, or, at worst,", "Some roving robber calling to his fellows.", "SEC. BRO. Heaven keep my sister! Again, again, and near!", "Best draw, and stand upon our guard.", " ELD. BRO. I'll hallo!", "If he be friendly, he comes well: if not,", "Defence is a good cause, and Heaven be for us!", "", " The ATTENDANT SPIRIT, habited like a shepherd.", "", "That hallo I should know. What are you? speak.", "Come not too near; you fall on iron stakes else.", " SPIR. What voice is that? my young Lord? speak again.", " SEC. BRO. O brother, Tt is my father's Shepherd, sure.", " ELD. BRO. Thyrsis! whose artful strains have of delayed", "The huddling brook to hear his madrigal,", "And sweetened every musk-rose of the dale.", "How camest thou here, good swain? Hath any ram", "Slipped from the fold, or young kid lost his dam,", "Or straggling wether the pent flock forsook?", "How couldst thou find this dark sequestered nook?", " SPIR. O my loved master's heir, and his next joy,", "I came not here on such a trivial toy", "As a strayed ewe, or to pursue the stealth", "Of pilfering wolf; not all the fleecy wealth", "That doth enrich these downs is worth a thought", "To this my errand, and the care it brought.", "But, oh ! my virgin Lady, where is she?", "How chance she is not in your company?", " ELD. BRO. To tell thee sadly, Shepherd, without blame", "Or our neglect, we lost her as we came.", " SPIR. Ay me unhappy! then my fears are true.", " ELD. BRO. What fears, good Thyrsis? Prithee briefly", "shew.", " SPIR. I'll tell ye. 'T is not vain or fabulous", "(Though so esteemed by shallow igrlorance)", "What the sage poets, taught by the heavenly Muse,", "Storied of old in high immortal verse", "Of dire Chimeras and enchanted isles,", "And rifted rocks whose entrance leads to Hell;", "For such there be, but unbelief is blind.", " Within the navel of this hideous wood,", "Immured in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells,", "Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus,", "Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries,", "And here to every thirsty wanderer", "By sly enticement gives his baneful cup,", "With many murmurs mixed, whose pleasing poison", "The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,", "And the inglorious likeness of a beast", "Fixes instead, unmoulding reason's mintage", "Charactered in the face. This have I learnt", "Tending my flocks hard by i' the hilly crofts", "That brow this bottom glade; whence night by night", "He and his monstrous rout are heard to howl", "Like stabled wolves, or tigers at their prey,", "Doing abhorred rites to Hecate", "In their obscured haunts of inmost bowers.", "Yet have they many baits and guileful spells", "To inveigle and invite the unwary sense", "Of them that pass unweeting by the way.", "This evening late, by then the chewing flocks", "Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb", "Of knot-grass dew-besprent, and were in fold,", "I sat me down to watch upon a bank", "With ivy canopied, and interwove", "With flaunting honeysuckle, and began,", "Wrapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy,", "To meditate my rural minstrelsy,", "Till fancy had her fill. But ere a close", "The wonted roar was up amidst the woods,", "And filled the air with barbarous dissonance;", "At which I ceased, and listened them awhile,", "Till an unusual stop of sudden silence", "Gave respite to the drowsy-flighted steeds", "That draw the litter of close-curtained Sleep.", "At last a soft and solemn-breathing sound", "Rose like a steam of rich distilled perfumes,", "And stole upon the air, that even Silence", "Was took ere she was ware, and wished she might", "Deny her nature, and be never more,", "Still to be so displaced. I was all ear,", "And took in strains that might create a soul", "Under the ribs of Death. But, oh! ere long", "Too well I did perceive it was the voice", "Of my most honoured Lady, your dear sister.", "Amazed I stood, harrowed with grief and fear;", "And RO poor hapless nightingale,\" thought I,", "How sweet thou sing'st, how near the deadly snare!\"", "Then down the lawns I ran with headlong haste,", "Through paths and turnings often trod by day,", "Till, guided by mine ear, I found the place", "Where that damned wizard, hid in sly disguise", "(For so by certain signs I knew), had met", "Already, ere my best speed could prevent,", "The aidless innocent lady, his wished prey;", "Who gently asked if he had seen such two,", "Supposing him some neighbour villager.", "Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guessed", "Ye were the two she meant; with that I sprung", "Into swift flight, till I had found you here;", "But further know I not.", " SEC. BRO. O night and shades,", "How are ye joined with hell in triple knot", "Against the unarmed weakness of one virgin,", "Alone and helpless! Is this the confidence", "You gave me, brother?", " ELD. BRO. Yes, and keep it still;", "Lean on it safely; not a period", "Shall be unsaid for me. Against the threats", "Of malice or of sorcery, or that power", "Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm:", "Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt,", "Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled;", "Yea, even that which Mischief meant most harm", "Shall in the happy trial prove most glory.", "But evil on itself shall back recoil,", "And mix no more with goodness, when at last,", "Gathered like scum, and settled to itself,", "It shall be in eternal restless change", "Self-fed and self-consumed. If this fail,", "The pillared firmament is rottenness,", "And earth's base built on stubble. But come, let's on!", "Against the opposing will and arm of heaven", "May never this just sword be lifted up;", "But, for that damned magician, let him be girt", "With all the griesly legions that troop", "Under the sooty flag of Acheron,", "Harpies and Hydras, or all the monstrous forms", "'Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out,", "And force him to return his purchase back,", "Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,", "Cursed as his life.", " SPIR. Alas! good venturous youth,", "I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise;", "But here thy sword can do thee little stead.", "Far other arms and other weapons must", "Be those that quell the might of hellish charms.", "He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints,", "And crumble all thy sinews.", " ELD. BRO. Why, prithee,", "Shepherd,", "How durst thou then thyself approach so near", "As to make this relation?", " SPIR. Care and utmost", "shifts", "How to secure the Lady from surprisal", "Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad,", "Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled", "In every virtuous plant and healing herb", "That spreads her verdant leaf to the morning ray.", "He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing;", "Which when I did, he on the tender grass", "Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy,", "And in requital ope his leathern scrip,", "And show me simples of a thousand names,", "Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.", "Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,", "But of divine effect, he culled me out.", "The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,", "But in another country, as he said,", "Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil:", "Unknown, and like esteemed, and the dull swain", "Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;", "And yet more med'cinal is it than that Moly", "That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave.", "He called it Haemony, and gave it me,", "And bade me keep it as of sovran use", "'Gainst all enchantments, mildew blast, or damp,", "Or ghastly Furies' apparition.", "I pursed it up, but little reckoning made,", "Till now that this extremity compelled.", "But now I find it true; for by this means", "I knew the foul enchanter, though disguised,", "Entered the very lime-twigs of his spells,", "And yet came off. If you have this about you", "(As I will give you when we go), you may", "Boldly assault the necromancer's hall;", "Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood", "And brandished blade rush on him: break his glass,", "And shed the luscious liquor on the ground;", "But seize his wand. Though he and his curst crew", "Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high,", "Or, like the sons of Vulcan, vomit smoke,", "Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink.", " ELD. BRO. Thyrsis, lead on apace; I'll follow thee;", "And some good angel bear a shield before us!", "", "The Scene changes to a stately palace, set out with all manner of", "deliciousness: soft music, tables spread with all dainties. Comus", "appears with his rabble, and the LADY set in an enchanted chair;", "to", "whom he offers his glass; which she puts by, and goes about to", "rise.", "", " COMUS. Nay, Lady, sit. If I but wave this wand,", "Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster,", "And you a statue, or as Daphne was,", "Root-bound, that fled Apollo.", " LADY. Fool, do not boast.", "Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind", "With all thy charms, although this corporal rind", "Thou hast immanacled while Heaven sees good.", " COMUS. Why are you vexed, Lady? why do you frown?", "Here dwell no frowns, nor anger; from these gates", "Sorrow flies far. See, here be all the pleasures", "That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts,", "When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns", "Brisk as the April buds in primrose season.", "And first behold this cordial julep here,", "That flames and dances in his crystal bounds,", "With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed.", "Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone", "In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena", "Is of such power to stir up joy as this,", "To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst.", "Why should you be so cruel to yourself,", "And to those dainty limbs, which Nature lent", "For gentle usage and soft delicacy?", "But you invert the covenants of her trust,", "And harshly deal, like an ill borrower,", "With that which you received on other terms,", "Scorning the unexempt condition", "By which all mortal frailty must subsist,", "Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,", "That have been tired all day without repast,", "And timely rest have wanted. But, fair virgin,", "This will restore all soon.", " LADY. 'T will not, false", "traitor!", "'T will not restore the truth and honesty", "That thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies.", "Was this the cottage and the safe abode", "Thou told'st me of? What grim aspects are these,", "These oughly-headed monsters? Mercy guard me!", "Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul deceiver!", "Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence", "With vizored falsehood and base forgery?", "And would'st thou seek again to trap me here", "With liquorish baits, fit to ensnare a brute?", "Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets,", "I would not taste thy treasonous offer. None", "But such as are good men can give good things;", "And that which is not good is not delicious", "To a well-governed and wise appetite.", " COMUS. 0 foolishness of men! that lend their ears", "To those budge doctors of the Stoic fur,", "And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub,", "Praising the lean and sallow Abstinence!", "Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth", "With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,", "Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,", "Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable,", "But all to please and sate the curious taste?", "And set to work millions of spinning worms,", "That in their green shops weave the smooth-haired silk,", "To deck her sons; and, that no corner might", "Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins", "She hutched the all-worshipped ore and precious gems,", "To store her children with. If all the world", "Should, in a pet of temperance, feed on pulse,", "Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,", "The All-giver would be unthanked, would be unpraised,", "Not half his riches known and yet despised;", "And we should serve him as a grudging master,", "As a penurious niggard of his wealth,", "And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons,", "Who would be quite surcharged with her own weight,", "And strangled with her waste fertility:", "The earth cumbered, and the winged air darked with plumes,", "The herds would over-multitude their lords;", "The sea o'erfraught would swell, and the unsought diamonds", "Would so emblaze the forehead of the deep,", "And so bestud with stars, that they below", "Would grow inured to light, and come at last", "To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows.", "List, Lady; be not coy, and be not cozened", "With that same vaunted name, Virginity.", "Beauty is Nature's coin; must not be hoarded,", "But must be current; and the good thereof", "Consists in mutual and partaken bliss,", "Unsavoury in the enjoyment of itself.", "If you let slip time, like a neglected rose", "It withers on the stalk with languished head.", "Beauty is Nature's brag, and must be shown", "In courts, at feasts, and high solemnities,", "Where most may wonder at the workmanship.", "It is for homely features to keep home;", "They had their name thence: coarse complexions", "And cheeks of sorry grain will serve to ply", "The sampler, and to tease the huswife's wool.", "What need a vermeil-tinctured lip for that,", "Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the morn?", "There was another meaning in these gifts;", "Think what, and be advised; you are but young yet.", " LADY. I had not thought to have unlocked my lips", "In this unhallowed air, but that this juggler", "Would think to charm my judgment, as mine eyes,", "Obtruding false rules pranked in reason's garb.", "I hate when vice can bolt her arguments", "And virtue has no tongue to check her pride.", "Impostor! do not charge most innocent Nature,", "As if she would her children should be riotous", "With her abundance. She, good cateress,", "Means her provision only to the good,", "That live according to her sober laws,", "And holy dictate of spare Temperance.", "If every just man that now pines with want", "Had but a moderate and beseeming share", "Of that which lewdly-pampered Luxury", "Now heaps upon some few with vast excess,", "Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed", "In unsuperfluous even proportion,", "And she no whit encumbered with her store;", "And then the Giver would be better thanked,", "His praise due paid: for swinish gluttony", "Ne'er looks to Heaven amidst his gorgeous feast,", "But with besotted base ingratitude", "Crams, and blasphemes his Feeder. Shall I go on", "Or have I said enow? To him that dares", "Arm his profane tongue with contemptuous words", "Against the sun-clad power of chastity", "Fain would I something say;—yet to what end?", "Thou hast nor ear, nor soul, to apprehend", "The sublime notion and high mystery", "That must be uttered to unfold the sage", "And serious doctrine of Virginity;", "And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know", "More happiness than this thy present lot.", "Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric,", "That hath so well been taught her dazzling fence;", "Thou art not fit to hear thyself convinced.", "Yet, should I try, the uncontrolled worth", "Of this pure cause would kindle my rapt spirits", "To such a flame of sacred vehemence", "That dumb things would be moved to sympathise,", "And the brute Earth would lend her nerves, and shake,", "Till all thy magic structures, reared so high,", "Were shattered into heaps o'er thy false head.", " COMUS. She fables not. I feel that I do fear", "Her words set off by some superior power;", "And, though not mortal, yet a cold shuddering dew", "Dips me all o'er, as when the wrath of Jove", "Speaks thunder and the chains of Erebus", "To some of Saturn's crew. I must dissemble,", "And try her yet more strongly.—Come, no more !", "This is mere moral babble, and direct", "Against the canon laws of our foundation.", "I must not suffer this; yet 't is but the lees", "And settlings of a melancholy blood.", "But this will cure all straight; one sip of this", "Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight", "Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste.", "", "The BROTHERS rush in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of", "his", "hand, and break it against the ground: his rout make sign of", "resistance, but are all driven in. The ATTENDANT SPIRIT comes in.", "", " SPIR . What! have you let the false enchanter scape?", "O ye mistook; ye should have snatched his wand,", "And bound him fast. Without his rod reversed,", "And backward mutters of dissevering power,", "We cannot free the Lady that sits here", "In stony fetters fixed and motionless.", "Yet stay: be not disturbed; now I bethink me,", "Some other means I have which may be used,", "Which once of Meliboeus old I learnt,", "The soothest shepherd that e'er piped on plains.", " There is a gentle Nymph not far from hence,", "That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream:", "Sabrina is her name: a virgin pure;", "Whilom she was the daughter of Locrine,", "That had the sceptre from his father Brute.", "She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit", "Of her enraged stepdame, Guendolen,", "Commended her fair innocence to the flood", "That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course.", "The water-nymphs, that in the bottom played,", "Held up their pearled wrists, and took her in,", "Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall;", "Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head,", "And gave her to his daughters to imbathe", "In nectared lavers strewed with asphodil,", "And through the porch and inlet of each sense", "Dropt in ambrosial oils, till she revived,", "And underwent a quick immortal change,", "Made Goddess of the river. Still she retains", "Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve", "Visits the herds along the twilight meadows,", "Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs", "That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make,", "Which she with precious vialed liquors heals:", "For which the shepherds, at their festivals,", "Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays,", "And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream", "Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils.", "And, as the old swain said, she can unlock", "The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spell,", "If she be right invoked in warbled song;", "For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift", "To aid a virgin, such as was herself,", "In hard-besetting need. This will I try,", "And add the power of some adjuring verse.", "", "", "SONG.", "", " Sabrina fair,", " Listen where thou art sitting", " Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,", " In twisted braids of lilies knitting", " The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;", " Listen for dear honour's sake,", " Goddess of the silver lake,", " Listen and save!", "", "Listen, and appear to us,", "In name of great Oceanus.", "By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace,", "And Tethys' grave majestic pace;", "By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,", "And the Carpathian wizard's hook;", "By scaly Triton's winding shell,", "And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell;", "By Leucothea's lovely hands,", "And her son that rules the strands;", "By Thetis' tinsel-slippered feet,", "And the songs of Sirens sweet;", "By dead Parthenope's dear tomb,", "And fair Ligea's golden comb,", "Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks", "Sleeking her soft alluring locks;", "By all the Nymphs that nightly dance", "Upon thy streams with wily glance;", "Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head", "From thy coral-paven bed,", "And bridle in thy headlong wave,", "Till thou our summons answered have.", " Listen and save!", "", "SABRINA rises, attended by water-nymphs, and sings.", "", "By the rushy-fringed bank,", "Where grows the willow and the osier dank,", " My sliding chariot stays,", "Thick set with agate, and the azurn sheen", "Of turkis blue, and emerald green,", " That in the channel strays;", "Whilst from off the waters fleet", "Thus I set my printless feet", "O'er the cowslip's velvet head,", " That bends not as I tread.", "Gentle swain, at thy request", " I am here!", "", " SPIR. Goddess dear,", "We implore thy powerful hand", "To undo the charmed band", "Of true virgin here distressed", "Through the force and through the wile", "Of unblessed enchanter vile.", " SABR. Shepherd, 't is my office best", "To help ensnared chastity.", "Brightest Lady, look on me.", "Thus I sprinkle on thy breast", "Drops that from my fountain pure", "I have kept of precious cure;", "Thrice upon thy finger's tip,", "Thrice upon thy rubied lip:", "Next this marble venomed seat,", "Smeared with gums of glutinous heat,", "I touch with chaste palms moist and cold.", "Now the spell hath lost his hold;", "And I must haste ere morning hour", "To wait in Amphitrite's bower.", "", "SABRINA descends, and the LADY rises out of her seat.", "", " SPIR. Virgin, daughter of Locrine,", "Sprung of old Anchises' line,", "May thy brimmed waves for this", "Their full tribute never miss", "From a thousand petty rills,", "That tumble down the snowy hills:", "Summer drouth or singed air", "Never scorch thy tresses fair,", "Nor wet October's torrent flood", "Thy molten crystal fill with mud;", "May thy billows roll ashore", "The beryl and the golden ore;", "May thy lofty head be crowned", "With many a tower and terrace round,", "And here and there thy banks Upon", "With groves of myrrh and cinnamon.", " Come, Lady; while Heaven lends us grace,", "Let us fly this cursed place,", "Lest the sorcerer us entice", "With some other new device.", "Not a waste or needless sound", "Till we come to holier ground.", "I shall be your faithful guide", "Through this gloomy covert wide;", "And not many furlongs thence", "Is your Father's residence,", "Where this night are met in state", "Many a friend to gratulate", "His wished presence, and beside", "All the swains that there abide", "With jigs and rural dance resort.", "We shall catch them at their sport,", "And our sudden coming there", "Will double all their mirth and cheer.", "Come, let us haste; the stars grow high,", "But Night sits monarch yet in the mid sky.", "", "The Scene changes,presenting Ludlow Town, and the PresidentUs", "Castle: then come in Country Dancers; after them the ATTENDANT", "SPIRIT, with the two BROTHERS and the LADY.", "", " SONG.", "", " SPIR. Back, shepherds, back! Enough your play", "Till next sun-shine holiday.", "Here be, without duck or nod,", "Other trippings to be trod", "Of lighter toes, and such court guise", "As Mercury did first devise", "With the mincing Dryades", "On the lawns and on the leas.", "", "The second Song presents them to their Father and Mother.", "", " Noble Lord and Lady bright,", "I have brought ye new delight.", "Here behold so goodly grown", "Three fair branches of your own.", "Heaven hath timely tried their youth,", "Their faith, their patience, and their truth,", "And sent them here through hard assays", "With a crown of deathless praise,", "To triumph in victorious dance", "O'er sensual folly and intemperance.", "", "The dances ended, the SPIRIT epiloguizes.", "", " SPIR. To the ocean now I fly,", "And those happy climes that lie", "Where day never shuts his eye,", "Up in the broad fields of the sky.", "There I suck the liquid air,", "All amidst the gardens fair", "Of Hesperus, and his daughters three", "That sing about the golden tree.", "Along the crisped shades and bowers", "Revels the spruce and jocund Spring;", "The Graces and the rosy-bosomed Hours", "Thither all their bounties bring.", "There eternal Summer dwells;", "And west winds with musky wing", "About the cedarn alleys fling", "Nard and cassia's balmy smells.", "Iris there with humid bow", "Waters the odorous banks, that blow", "Flowers of more mingled hue", "Than her purfled scarf can shew,", "And drenches with Elysian dew", "(List, mortals, if your ears be true)", "Beds of hyacinth and roses,", "Where young Adonis oft reposes,", "Waxing well of his deep wound,", "In slumber soft, and on the ground", "Sadly sits the Assyrian queen.", "But far above, in spangled sheen,", "Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced", "Holds his dear Psyche, sweet entranced", "After her wandering labours long,", "Till free consent the gods among", "Make her his eternal bride,", "And from her fair unspotted side", "Two blissful twins are to be born,", "Youth and Joy; so Jove hath sworn.", " But now my task is smoothly done:", "I can fly, or I can run,", "Quickly to the green earth's end,", "Where the bowed welkin slow doth bend,", "And from thence can soar as soon", "To the corners of the moon.", "Mortals, that would follow me,", "Love virtue; she alone is free.", "She can teach ye how to climb", "Higher than the sphery chime;", "Or, if Virtue feeble were,", "Heaven itself would stoop to her." ], "linecount": "1091" }, { "title": "Another Acrostic (in the style of Father William)", "author": "Lewis Carroll", "lines": [ "\"Are you deaf, Father William!\" the young man said,", "\"Did you hear what I told you just now?", "\"Excuse me for shouting! Don't waggle your head", "\"Like a blundering, sleepy old cow!", "\"A little maid dwelling in Wallington Town,", "\"Is my friend, so I beg to remark:", "\"Do you think she'd be pleased if a book were sent down", "\"Entitled 'The Hunt of the Snark?'\"", "", "", "\"Pack it up in brown paper!\" the old man cried,", "\"And seal it with olive-and-dove.", "\"I command you to do it!\" he added with pride,", "\"Nor forget, my good fellow to send her beside", "\"Easter Greetings, and give her my love.\"" ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "Sea Dreams", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "A city clerk, but gently born and bred;", "His wife, an unknown artist's orphan child--", "One babe was theirs, a Margaret, three years old:", "They, thinking that her clear germander eye", "Droopt in the giant-factoried city-gloom,", "Came, with a month's leave given them, to the sea:", "For which his gains were dock'd, however small:", "Small were his gains, and hard his work; besides,", "Their slender household fortunes (for the man", "Had risk'd his little) like the little thrift,", "Trembled in perilous places o'er a deep:", "And oft, when sitting all alone, his face", "Would darken, as he cursed his credulousness,", "And that one unctuous mount which lured him, rogue,", "To buy strange shares in some Peruvian mine.", "Now seaward-bound for health they gain'd a coast,", "All sand and cliff and deep-inrunning cave,", "At close of day; slept, woke, and went the next,", "The Sabbath, pious variers from the church,", "To chapel; where a heated pulpiteer,", "Not preaching simple Christ to simple men,", "Announced the coming doom, and fulminated", "Against the scarlet woman and her creed:", "For sideways up he swung his arms, and shriek'd", "`Thus, thus with violence,' ev'n as if he held", "The Apocalyptic millstone, and himself", "Were that great Angel; `Thus with violence", "Shall Babylon be cast into the sea;", "Then comes the close.' The gentle-hearted wife", "Sat shuddering at the ruin of a world;", "He at his own: but when the wordy storm", "Had ended, forth they came and paced the shore,", "Ran in and out the long sea-framing caves,", "Drank the large air, and saw, but scarce believed", "(The sootflake of so many a summer still", "Clung to their fancies) that they saw, the sea.", "So now on sand they walk'd, and now on cliff,", "Lingering about the thymy promontories,", "Till all the sails were darken'd in the west,", "And rosed in the east: then homeward and to bed:", "Where she, who kept a tender Christian hope", "Haunting a holy text, and still to that", "Returning, as the bird returns, at night,", "`Let not the sun go down upon your wrath,'", "Said, `Love, forgive him:' but he did not speak;", "And silenced by that silence lay the wife,", "Remembering her dear Lord who died for all,", "And musing on the little lives of men,", "And how they mar this little by their feuds.", "", "But while the two were sleeping, a full tide", "Rose with ground-swell, which, on the foremost rocks", "Touching, upjetted in spirts of wild sea-smoke,", "And scaled in sheets of wasteful foam, and fell", "In vast sea-cataracts--ever and anon", "Dead claps of thunder from within the cliffs", "Heard thro' the living roar. At this the babe,", "Their Margaret cradled near them, wail'd and woke", "The mother, and the father suddenly cried,", "`A wreck, a wreck!' then turn'd, and groaning said,", "", "`Forgive! How many will say, \"forgive,\" and find", "A sort of absolution in the sound", "To hate a little longer! No; the sin", "That neither God nor man can well forgive,", "Hypocrisy, I saw it in him at once.", "Is it so true that second thoughts are best?", "Not first, and third, which are a riper first?", "Too ripe, too late! they come too late for use.", "Ah love, there surely lives in man and beast", "Something divine to warn them of their foes:", "And such a sense, when first I fronted him,", "Said, \"trust him not;\" but after, when I came", "To know him more, I lost it, knew him less;", "Fought with what seem'd my own uncharity;", "Sat at his table; drank his costly wines;", "Made more and more allowance for his talk;", "Went further, fool! and trusted him with all,", "All my poor scrapings from a dozen years", "Of dust and deskwork: there is no such mine,", "None; but a gulf of ruin, swallowing gold,", "Not making. Ruin'd! ruin'd! the sea roars", "Ruin: a fearful night!'", "", "`Not fearful; fair,'", "Said the good wife, `if every star in heaven", "Can make it fair: you do but bear the tide.", "Had you ill dreams?'", "", "`O yes,' he said, `I dream'd", "Of such a tide swelling toward the land,", "And I from out the boundless outer deep", "Swept with it to the shore, and enter'd one", "Of those dark caves that run beneath the cliffs.", "I thought the motion of the boundless deep", "Bore through the cave, and I was heaved upon it", "In darkness: then I saw one lovely star", "Larger and larger. \"What a world,\" I thought,", "\"To live in!\" but in moving I found", "Only the landward exit of the cave,", "Bright with the sun upon the stream beyond:", "And near the light a giant woman sat,", "All over earthy, like a piece of earth,", "A pickaxe in her hand: then out I slipt", "Into a land all of sun and blossom, trees", "As high as heaven, and every bird that sings:", "And here the night-light flickering in my eyes", "Awoke me.'", "", "`That was then your dream,' she said,", "`Not sad, but sweet.'", "", "`So sweet, I lay,' said he,", "`And mused upon it, drifting up the stream", "In fancy, till I slept again, and pieced", "The broken vision; for I dream'd that still", "The motion of the great deep bore me on,", "And that the woman walk'd upon the brink:", "I wonder'd at her strength, and ask'd her of it:", "\"It came,\" she said, \"by working in the mines:\"", "O then to ask her of my shares, I thought;", "And ask'd; but not a word; she shook her head.", "And then the motion of the current ceased,", "And there was rolling thunder; and we reach'd", "A mountain, like a wall of burs and thorns;", "But she with her strong feet up the steep hill", "Trod out a path: I follow'd; and at top", "She pointed seaward: there a fleet of glass,", "That seem'd a fleet of jewels under me,", "Sailing along before a gloomy cloud", "That not one moment ceased to thunder, past", "In sunshine: right across its track there lay,", "Down in the water, a long reef of gold,", "Or what seem'd gold: and I was glad at first", "To think that in our often-ransack'd world", "Still so much gold was left; and then I fear'd", "Lest the gay navy there should splinter on it,", "And fearing waved my arm to warn them off;", "An idle signal, for the brittle fleet", "(I thought I could have died to save it) near'd,", "Touch'd, clink'd, and clash'd, and vanish'd, and I woke,", "I heard the clash so clearly. Now I see", "My dream was Life; the woman honest Work;", "And my poor venture but a fleet of glass", "Wreck'd on a reef of visionary gold.'", "", "`Nay,' said the kindly wife to comfort him,", "`You raised your arm, you tumbled down and broke", "The glass with little Margaret's medicine it it;", "And, breaking that, you made and broke your dream:", "A trifle makes a dream, a trifle breaks.'", "", "`No trifle,' groan'd the husband; `yesterday", "I met him suddenly in the street, and ask'd", "That which I ask'd the woman in my dream.", "Like her, he shook his head. \"Show me the books!\"", "He dodged me with a long and loose account.", "\"The books, the books!\" but he, he could not wait,", "Bound on a matter he of life and death:", "When the great Books (see Daniel seven and ten)", "Were open'd, I should find he meant me well;", "And then began to bloat himself, and ooze", "All over with the fat affectionate smile", "That makes the widow lean. \"My dearest friend,", "Have faith, have faith! We live by faith,\" said he;", "\"And all things work together for the good", "Of those\"--it makes me sick to quote him--last", "Gript my hand hard, and with God-bless-you went.", "I stood like one that had received a blow:", "I found a hard friend in his loose accounts,", "A loose one in the hard grip of his hand,", "A curse in his God-bless-you: then my eyes", "Pursued him down the street, and far away,", "Among the honest shoulders of the crowd,", "Read rascal in the motions of his back,", "And scoundrel in the supple-sliding knee.'", "", "`Was he so bound, poor soul?' said the good wife;", "`So are we all: but do not call him, love,", "Before you prove him, rogue, and proved, forgive.", "His gain is loss; for he that wrongs his friend", "Wrongs himself more, and ever bears about", "A silent court of justice in his breast,", "Himself the judge and jury, and himself", "The prisoner at the bar, ever condemn'd:", "And that drags down his life: then comes what comes", "Hereafter: and he meant, he said he meant,", "Perhaps he meant, or partly meant, you well.'", "", "` \"With all his conscience and one eye askew\"--", "Love, let me quote these lines, that you may learn", "A man is likewise counsel for himself,", "Too often, in that silent court of yours--", "\"With all his conscience and one eye askew,", "So false, he partly took himself for true;", "Whose pious talk, when most his heart was dry,", "Made wet the crafty crowsfoot round his eye;", "Who, never naming God except for gain,", "So never took that useful name in vain;", "Made Him his catspaw and the Cross his tool,", "And Christ the bait to trap his dupe and fool;", "Nor deeds of gift, but gifts of grace he forged,", "And snakelike slimed his victim ere he gorged;", "And oft at Bible meetings, o'er the rest", "Arising, did his holy oily best,", "Dropping the too rough H in Hell and Heaven,", "To spread the Word by which himself had thriven.\"", "How like you this old satire?'", "", "`Nay,' she said", "`I loathe it: he had never kindly heart,", "Nor ever cared to better his own kind,", "Who first wrote satire, with no pity in it.", "But will you hear MY dream, for I had one", "That altogether went to music? Still", "It awed me.'", "", "Then she told it, having dream'd", "Of that same coast.", "", "--But round the North, a light,", "A belt, it seem'd, of luminous vapor, lay,", "And ever in it a low musical note", "Swell'd up and died; and, as it swell'd, a ridge", "Of breaker issued from the belt, and still", "Grew with the growing note, and when the note", "Had reach'd a thunderous fullness, on those cliffs", "Broke, mixt with awful light (the same as that", "Living within the belt) whereby she saw", "That all those lines of cliffs were cliffs no more,", "But huge cathedral fronts of every age,", "Grave, florid, stern, as far as eye could see.", "One after one: and then the great ridge drew,", "Lessening to the lessening music, back,", "And past into the belt and swell'd again", "Slowly to music: ever when it broke", "The statues, king or saint, or founder fell;", "Then from the gaps and chasms of ruin left", "Came men and women in dark clusters round,", "Some crying, \"Set them up! they shall not fall!\"", "And others \"Let them lie, for they have fall'n.\"", "And still they strove and wrangled: and she grieved", "In her strange dream, she knew not why, to find", "Their wildest wailings never out of tune", "With that sweet note; and ever as their shrieks", "Ran highest up the gamut, that great wave", "Returning, while none mark'd it, on the crowd", "Broke, mixt with awful light, and show'd their eyes", "Glaring, and passionate looks, and swept away", "The men of flesh and blood, and men of stone,", "To the waste deeps together.", "", "`Then I fixt", "My wistful eyes on two fair images,", "Both crown'd with stars and high among the stars,--", "The Virgin Mother standing with her child", "High up on one of those dark minster-fronts--", "Till she began to totter, and the child", "Clung to the mother, and sent out a cry", "Which mixt with little Margaret's, and I woke,", "And my dream awed me:--well--but what are dreams?", "Yours came but from the breaking of a glass,", "And mine but from the crying of a child.'", "", "`Child? No!' said he, `but this tide's roar, and his,", "Our Boanerges with his threats of doom,", "And loud-lung'd Antibabylonianisms", "(Altho' I grant but little music there)", "Went both to make your dream: but if there were", "A music harmonizing our wild cries,", "Sphere-music such as that you dream'd about,", "Why, that would make our passions far too like", "The discords dear to the musician. No--", "One shriek of hate would jar all the hymns of heaven:", "True Devils with no ear, they howl in tune", "With nothing but the Devil!'", "", "`\"True\" indeed!", "One of our town, but later by an hour", "Here than ourselves, spoke with me on the shore;", "While you were running down the sands, and made", "The dimpled flounce of the sea-furbelow flap,", "Good man, to please the child. She brought strange news.", "Why were you silent when I spoke to-night?", "I had set my heart on your forgiving him", "Before you knew. We MUST forgive the dead.'", "", "`Dead! who is dead?'", "", "`The man your eye pursued.", "A little after you had parted with him,", "He suddenly dropt dead of heart-disease.'", "", "`Dead? he? of heart-disease? what heart had he", "To die of? dead!'", "", "`Ah, dearest, if there be", "A devil in man, there is an angel too,", "And if he did that wrong you charge him with,", "His angel broke his heart. But your rough voice", "(You spoke so loud) has roused the child again.", "Sleep, little birdie, sleep! will she not sleep", "Without her \"little birdie?\" well then, sleep,", "And I will sing you \"birdie.\"'", "", "Saying this,", "The woman half turn'd round from him she loved,", "Left him one hand, and reaching thro' the night", "Her other, found (for it was close beside)", "And half embraced the basket cradle-head", "With one soft arm, which, like the pliant bough", "That moving moves the nest and nestling, sway'd", "The cradle, while she sang this baby song.", "", "What does the little birdie say", "In her nest at peep of day?", "Let me fly, says little birdie,", "Mother, let me fly away.", "Birdie, rest a little longer,", "Till the little wings are stronger.", "So she rests a little longer,", "Then she flies away.", "", "What does little baby say,", "In her bed at peep of day?", "Baby says, like little birdie,", "Let me rise and fly away.", "Baby, sleep a little longer,", "Till the little limbs are stronger.", "If she sleeps a little longer,", "Baby too shall fly away.", "", "`She sleeps: let us too, let all evil, sleep.", "He also sleeps--another sleep than ours.", "He can do no more wrong: forgive him, dear,", "And I shall sleep the sounder!'", "", "Then the man,", "`His deeds yet live, the worst is yet to come.", "Yet let your sleep for this one night be sound:", "I do forgive him!'", "", "`Thanks, my love,' she said,", "`Your own will be the sweeter,' and they slept." ], "linecount": "318" }, { "title": "The Marriage of Geraint", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "The brave Geraint, a knight of Arthur's court,", "A tributary prince of Devon, one", "Of that great Order of the Table Round,", "Had married Enid, Yniol's only child,", "And loved her, as he loved the light of Heaven.", "And as the light of Heaven varies, now", "At sunrise, now at sunset, now by night", "With moon and trembling stars, so loved Geraint", "To make her beauty vary day by day,", "In crimsons and in purples and in gems.", "And Enid, but to please her husband's eye,", "Who first had found and loved her in a state", "Of broken fortunes, daily fronted him", "In some fresh splendour; and the Queen herself,", "Grateful to Prince Geraint for service done,", "Loved her, and often with her own white hands", "Arrayed and decked her, as the loveliest,", "Next after her own self, in all the court.", "And Enid loved the Queen, and with true heart", "Adored her, as the stateliest and the best", "And loveliest of all women upon earth.", "And seeing them so tender and so close,", "Long in their common love rejoiced Geraint.", "But when a rumour rose about the Queen,", "Touching her guilty love for Lancelot,", "Though yet there lived no proof, nor yet was heard", "The world's loud whisper breaking into storm,", "Not less Geraint believed it; and there fell", "A horror on him, lest his gentle wife,", "Through that great tenderness for Guinevere,", "Had suffered, or should suffer any taint", "In nature: wherefore going to the King,", "He made this pretext, that his princedom lay", "Close on the borders of a territory,", "Wherein were bandit earls, and caitiff knights,", "Assassins, and all flyers from the hand", "Of Justice, and whatever loathes a law:", "And therefore, till the King himself should please", "To cleanse this common sewer of all his realm,", "He craved a fair permission to depart,", "And there defend his marches; and the King", "Mused for a little on his plea, but, last,", "Allowing it, the Prince and Enid rode,", "And fifty knights rode with them, to the shores", "Of Severn, and they past to their own land;", "Where, thinking, that if ever yet was wife", "True to her lord, mine shall be so to me,", "He compassed her with sweet observances", "And worship, never leaving her, and grew", "Forgetful of his promise to the King,", "Forgetful of the falcon and the hunt,", "Forgetful of the tilt and tournament,", "Forgetful of his glory and his name,", "Forgetful of his princedom and its cares.", "And this forgetfulness was hateful to her.", "And by and by the people, when they met", "In twos and threes, or fuller companies,", "Began to scoff and jeer and babble of him", "As of a prince whose manhood was all gone,", "And molten down in mere uxoriousness.", "And this she gathered from the people's eyes:", "This too the women who attired her head,", "To please her, dwelling on his boundless love,", "Told Enid, and they saddened her the more:", "And day by day she thought to tell Geraint,", "But could not out of bashful delicacy;", "While he that watched her sadden, was the more", "Suspicious that her nature had a taint.", "", "At last, it chanced that on a summer morn", "(They sleeping each by either) the new sun", "Beat through the blindless casement of the room,", "And heated the strong warrior in his dreams;", "Who, moving, cast the coverlet aside,", "And bared the knotted column of his throat,", "The massive square of his heroic breast,", "And arms on which the standing muscle sloped,", "As slopes a wild brook o'er a little stone,", "Running too vehemently to break upon it.", "And Enid woke and sat beside the couch,", "Admiring him, and thought within herself,", "Was ever man so grandly made as he?", "Then, like a shadow, past the people's talk", "And accusation of uxoriousness", "Across her mind, and bowing over him,", "Low to her own heart piteously she said:", "", "'O noble breast and all-puissant arms,", "Am I the cause, I the poor cause that men", "Reproach you, saying all your force is gone?", "I AM the cause, because I dare not speak", "And tell him what I think and what they say.", "And yet I hate that he should linger here;", "I cannot love my lord and not his name.", "Far liefer had I gird his harness on him,", "And ride with him to battle and stand by,", "And watch his mightful hand striking great blows", "At caitiffs and at wrongers of the world.", "Far better were I laid in the dark earth,", "Not hearing any more his noble voice,", "Not to be folded more in these dear arms,", "And darkened from the high light in his eyes,", "Than that my lord through me should suffer shame.", "Am I so bold, and could I so stand by,", "And see my dear lord wounded in the strife,", "And maybe pierced to death before mine eyes,", "And yet not dare to tell him what I think,", "And how men slur him, saying all his force", "Is melted into mere effeminacy?", "O me, I fear that I am no true wife.'", "", "Half inwardly, half audibly she spoke,", "And the strong passion in her made her weep", "True tears upon his broad and naked breast,", "And these awoke him, and by great mischance", "He heard but fragments of her later words,", "And that she feared she was not a true wife.", "And then he thought, 'In spite of all my care,", "For all my pains, poor man, for all my pains,", "She is not faithful to me, and I see her", "Weeping for some gay knight in Arthur's hall.'", "Then though he loved and reverenced her too much", "To dream she could be guilty of foul act,", "Right through his manful breast darted the pang", "That makes a man, in the sweet face of her", "Whom he loves most, lonely and miserable.", "At this he hurled his huge limbs out of bed,", "And shook his drowsy squire awake and cried,", "'My charger and her palfrey;' then to her,", "'I will ride forth into the wilderness;", "For though it seems my spurs are yet to win,", "I have not fallen so low as some would wish.", "And thou, put on thy worst and meanest dress", "And ride with me.' And Enid asked, amazed,", "'If Enid errs, let Enid learn her fault.'", "But he, 'I charge thee, ask not, but obey.'", "Then she bethought her of a faded silk,", "A faded mantle and a faded veil,", "And moving toward a cedarn cabinet,", "Wherein she kept them folded reverently", "With sprigs of summer laid between the folds,", "She took them, and arrayed herself therein,", "Remembering when first he came on her", "Drest in that dress, and how he loved her in it,", "And all her foolish fears about the dress,", "And all his journey to her, as himself", "Had told her, and their coming to the court.", "", "For Arthur on the Whitsuntide before", "Held court at old Caerleon upon Usk.", "There on a day, he sitting high in hall,", "Before him came a forester of Dean,", "Wet from the woods, with notice of a hart", "Taller than all his fellows, milky-white,", "First seen that day: these things he told the King.", "Then the good King gave order to let blow", "His horns for hunting on the morrow morn.", "And when the King petitioned for his leave", "To see the hunt, allowed it easily.", "So with the morning all the court were gone.", "But Guinevere lay late into the morn,", "Lost in sweet dreams, and dreaming of her love", "For Lancelot, and forgetful of the hunt;", "But rose at last, a single maiden with her,", "Took horse, and forded Usk, and gained the wood;", "There, on a little knoll beside it, stayed", "Waiting to hear the hounds; but heard instead", "A sudden sound of hoofs, for Prince Geraint,", "Late also, wearing neither hunting-dress", "Nor weapon, save a golden-hilted brand,", "Came quickly flashing through the shallow ford", "Behind them, and so galloped up the knoll.", "A purple scarf, at either end whereof", "There swung an apple of the purest gold,", "Swayed round about him, as he galloped up", "To join them, glancing like a dragon-fly", "In summer suit and silks of holiday.", "Low bowed the tributary Prince, and she,", "Sweet and statelily, and with all grace", "Of womanhood and queenhood, answered him:", "'Late, late, Sir Prince,' she said, 'later than we!'", "'Yea, noble Queen,' he answered, 'and so late", "That I but come like you to see the hunt,", "Not join it.' 'Therefore wait with me,' she said;", "'For on this little knoll, if anywhere,", "There is good chance that we shall hear the hounds:", "Here often they break covert at our feet.'", "", "And while they listened for the distant hunt,", "And chiefly for the baying of Cavall,", "King Arthur's hound of deepest mouth, there rode", "Full slowly by a knight, lady, and dwarf;", "Whereof the dwarf lagged latest, and the knight", "Had vizor up, and showed a youthful face,", "Imperious, and of haughtiest lineaments.", "And Guinevere, not mindful of his face", "In the King's hall, desired his name, and sent", "Her maiden to demand it of the dwarf;", "Who being vicious, old and irritable,", "And doubling all his master's vice of pride,", "Made answer sharply that she should not know.", "'Then will I ask it of himself,' she said.", "'Nay, by my faith, thou shalt not,' cried the dwarf;", "'Thou art not worthy even to speak of him;'", "And when she put her horse toward the knight,", "Struck at her with his whip, and she returned", "Indignant to the Queen; whereat Geraint", "Exclaiming, 'Surely I will learn the name,'", "Made sharply to the dwarf, and asked it of him,", "Who answered as before; and when the Prince", "Had put his horse in motion toward the knight,", "Struck at him with his whip, and cut his cheek.", "The Prince's blood spirted upon the scarf,", "Dyeing it; and his quick, instinctive hand", "Caught at the hilt, as to abolish him:", "But he, from his exceeding manfulness", "And pure nobility of temperament,", "Wroth to be wroth at such a worm, refrained", "From even a word, and so returning said:", "", "'I will avenge this insult, noble Queen,", "Done in your maiden's person to yourself:", "And I will track this vermin to their earths:", "For though I ride unarmed, I do not doubt", "To find, at some place I shall come at, arms", "On loan, or else for pledge; and, being found,", "Then will I fight him, and will break his pride,", "And on the third day will again be here,", "So that I be not fallen in fight. Farewell.'", "", "'Farewell, fair Prince,' answered the stately Queen.", "'Be prosperous in this journey, as in all;", "And may you light on all things that you love,", "And live to wed with her whom first you love:", "But ere you wed with any, bring your bride,", "And I, were she the daughter of a king,", "Yea, though she were a beggar from the hedge,", "Will clothe her for her bridals like the sun.'", "", "And Prince Geraint, now thinking that he heard", "The noble hart at bay, now the far horn,", "A little vext at losing of the hunt,", "A little at the vile occasion, rode,", "By ups and downs, through many a grassy glade", "And valley, with fixt eye following the three.", "At last they issued from the world of wood,", "And climbed upon a fair and even ridge,", "And showed themselves against the sky, and sank.", "And thither there came Geraint, and underneath", "Beheld the long street of a little town", "In a long valley, on one side whereof,", "White from the mason's hand, a fortress rose;", "And on one side a castle in decay,", "Beyond a bridge that spanned a dry ravine:", "And out of town and valley came a noise", "As of a broad brook o'er a shingly bed", "Brawling, or like a clamour of the rooks", "At distance, ere they settle for the night.", "", "And onward to the fortress rode the three,", "And entered, and were lost behind the walls.", "'So,' thought Geraint, 'I have tracked him to his earth.'", "And down the long street riding wearily,", "Found every hostel full, and everywhere", "Was hammer laid to hoof, and the hot hiss", "And bustling whistle of the youth who scoured", "His master's armour; and of such a one", "He asked, 'What means the tumult in the town?'", "Who told him, scouring still, 'The sparrow-hawk!'", "Then riding close behind an ancient churl,", "Who, smitten by the dusty sloping beam,", "Went sweating underneath a sack of corn,", "Asked yet once more what meant the hubbub here?", "Who answered gruffly, 'Ugh! the sparrow-hawk.'", "Then riding further past an armourer's,", "Who, with back turned, and bowed above his work,", "Sat riveting a helmet on his knee,", "He put the self-same query, but the man", "Not turning round, nor looking at him, said:", "'Friend, he that labours for the sparrow-hawk", "Has little time for idle questioners.'", "Whereat Geraint flashed into sudden spleen:", "'A thousand pips eat up your sparrow-hawk!", "Tits, wrens, and all winged nothings peck him dead!", "Ye think the rustic cackle of your bourg", "The murmur of the world! What is it to me?", "O wretched set of sparrows, one and all,", "Who pipe of nothing but of sparrow-hawks!", "Speak, if ye be not like the rest, hawk-mad,", "Where can I get me harbourage for the night?", "And arms, arms, arms to fight my enemy? Speak!'", "Whereat the armourer turning all amazed", "And seeing one so gay in purple silks,", "Came forward with the helmet yet in hand", "And answered, 'Pardon me, O stranger knight;", "We hold a tourney here tomorrow morn,", "And there is scantly time for half the work.", "Arms? truth! I know not: all are wanted here.", "Harbourage? truth, good truth, I know not, save,", "It may be, at Earl Yniol's, o'er the bridge", "Yonder.' He spoke and fell to work again.", "", "Then rode Geraint, a little spleenful yet,", "Across the bridge that spanned the dry ravine.", "There musing sat the hoary-headed Earl,", "(His dress a suit of frayed magnificence,", "Once fit for feasts of ceremony) and said:", "'Whither, fair son?' to whom Geraint replied,", "'O friend, I seek a harbourage for the night.'", "Then Yniol, 'Enter therefore and partake", "The slender entertainment of a house", "Once rich, now poor, but ever open-doored.'", "'Thanks, venerable friend,' replied Geraint;", "'So that ye do not serve me sparrow-hawks", "For supper, I will enter, I will eat", "With all the passion of a twelve hours' fast.'", "Then sighed and smiled the hoary-headed Earl,", "And answered, 'Graver cause than yours is mine", "To curse this hedgerow thief, the sparrow-hawk:", "But in, go in; for save yourself desire it,", "We will not touch upon him even in jest.'", "", "Then rode Geraint into the castle court,", "His charger trampling many a prickly star", "Of sprouted thistle on the broken stones.", "He looked and saw that all was ruinous.", "Here stood a shattered archway plumed with fern;", "And here had fallen a great part of a tower,", "Whole, like a crag that tumbles from the cliff,", "And like a crag was gay with wilding flowers:", "And high above a piece of turret stair,", "Worn by the feet that now were silent, wound", "Bare to the sun, and monstrous ivy-stems", "Claspt the gray walls with hairy-fibred arms,", "And sucked the joining of the stones, and looked", "A knot, beneath, of snakes, aloft, a grove.", "", "And while he waited in the castle court,", "The voice of Enid, Yniol's daughter, rang", "Clear through the open casement of the hall,", "Singing; and as the sweet voice of a bird,", "Heard by the lander in a lonely isle,", "Moves him to think what kind of bird it is", "That sings so delicately clear, and make", "Conjecture of the plumage and the form;", "So the sweet voice of Enid moved Geraint;", "And made him like a man abroad at morn", "When first the liquid note beloved of men", "Comes flying over many a windy wave", "To Britain, and in April suddenly", "Breaks from a coppice gemmed with green and red,", "And he suspends his converse with a friend,", "Or it may be the labour of his hands,", "To think or say, 'There is the nightingale;'", "So fared it with Geraint, who thought and said,", "'Here, by God's grace, is the one voice for me.'", "", "It chanced the song that Enid sang was one", "Of Fortune and her wheel, and Enid sang:", "", "'Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel and lower the proud;", "Turn thy wild wheel through sunshine, storm, and cloud;", "Thy wheel and thee we neither love nor hate.", "", "'Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel with smile or frown;", "With that wild wheel we go not up or down;", "Our hoard is little, but our hearts are great.", "", "'Smile and we smile, the lords of many lands;", "Frown and we smile, the lords of our own hands;", "For man is man and master of his fate.", "", "'Turn, turn thy wheel above the staring crowd;", "Thy wheel and thou are shadows in the cloud;", "Thy wheel and thee we neither love nor hate.'", "", "'Hark, by the bird's song ye may learn the nest,'", "Said Yniol; 'enter quickly.' Entering then,", "Right o'er a mount of newly-fallen stones,", "The dusky-raftered many-cobwebbed hall,", "He found an ancient dame in dim brocade;", "And near her, like a blossom vermeil-white,", "That lightly breaks a faded flower-sheath,", "Moved the fair Enid, all in faded silk,", "Her daughter. In a moment thought Geraint,", "'Here by God's rood is the one maid for me.'", "But none spake word except the hoary Earl:", "'Enid, the good knight's horse stands in the court;", "Take him to stall, and give him corn, and then", "Go to the town and buy us flesh and wine;", "And we will make us merry as we may.", "Our hoard is little, but our hearts are great.'", "", "He spake: the Prince, as Enid past him, fain", "To follow, strode a stride, but Yniol caught", "His purple scarf, and held, and said, 'Forbear!", "Rest! the good house, though ruined, O my son,", "Endures not that her guest should serve himself.'", "And reverencing the custom of the house", "Geraint, from utter courtesy, forbore.", "", "So Enid took his charger to the stall;", "And after went her way across the bridge,", "And reached the town, and while the Prince and Earl", "Yet spoke together, came again with one,", "A youth, that following with a costrel bore", "The means of goodly welcome, flesh and wine.", "And Enid brought sweet cakes to make them cheer,", "And in her veil enfolded, manchet bread.", "And then, because their hall must also serve", "For kitchen, boiled the flesh, and spread the board,", "And stood behind, and waited on the three.", "And seeing her so sweet and serviceable,", "Geraint had longing in him evermore", "To stoop and kiss the tender little thumb,", "That crost the trencher as she laid it down:", "But after all had eaten, then Geraint,", "For now the wine made summer in his veins,", "Let his eye rove in following, or rest", "On Enid at her lowly handmaid-work,", "Now here, now there, about the dusky hall;", "Then suddenly addrest the hoary Earl:", "", "'Fair Host and Earl, I pray your courtesy;", "This sparrow-hawk, what is he? tell me of him.", "His name? but no, good faith, I will not have it:", "For if he be the knight whom late I saw", "Ride into that new fortress by your town,", "White from the mason's hand, then have I sworn", "From his own lips to have it--I am Geraint", "Of Devon--for this morning when the Queen", "Sent her own maiden to demand the name,", "His dwarf, a vicious under-shapen thing,", "Struck at her with his whip, and she returned", "Indignant to the Queen; and then I swore", "That I would track this caitiff to his hold,", "And fight and break his pride, and have it of him.", "And all unarmed I rode, and thought to find", "Arms in your town, where all the men are mad;", "They take the rustic murmur of their bourg", "For the great wave that echoes round the world;", "They would not hear me speak: but if ye know", "Where I can light on arms, or if yourself", "Should have them, tell me, seeing I have sworn", "That I will break his pride and learn his name,", "Avenging this great insult done the Queen.'", "", "Then cried Earl Yniol, 'Art thou he indeed,", "Geraint, a name far-sounded among men", "For noble deeds? and truly I, when first", "I saw you moving by me on the bridge,", "Felt ye were somewhat, yea, and by your state", "And presence might have guessed you one of those", "That eat in Arthur's hall in Camelot.", "Nor speak I now from foolish flattery;", "For this dear child hath often heard me praise", "Your feats of arms, and often when I paused", "Hath asked again, and ever loved to hear;", "So grateful is the noise of noble deeds", "To noble hearts who see but acts of wrong:", "O never yet had woman such a pair", "Of suitors as this maiden: first Limours,", "A creature wholly given to brawls and wine,", "Drunk even when he wooed; and be he dead", "I know not, but he past to the wild land.", "The second was your foe, the sparrow-hawk,", "My curse, my nephew--I will not let his name", "Slip from my lips if I can help it--he,", "When that I knew him fierce and turbulent", "Refused her to him, then his pride awoke;", "And since the proud man often is the mean,", "He sowed a slander in the common ear,", "Affirming that his father left him gold,", "And in my charge, which was not rendered to him;", "Bribed with large promises the men who served", "About my person, the more easily", "Because my means were somewhat broken into", "Through open doors and hospitality;", "Raised my own town against me in the night", "Before my Enid's birthday, sacked my house;", "From mine own earldom foully ousted me;", "Built that new fort to overawe my friends,", "For truly there are those who love me yet;", "And keeps me in this ruinous castle here,", "Where doubtless he would put me soon to death,", "But that his pride too much despises me:", "And I myself sometimes despise myself;", "For I have let men be, and have their way;", "Am much too gentle, have not used my power:", "Nor know I whether I be very base", "Or very manful, whether very wise", "Or very foolish; only this I know,", "That whatsoever evil happen to me,", "I seem to suffer nothing heart or limb,", "But can endure it all most patiently.'", "", "'Well said, true heart,' replied Geraint, 'but arms,", "That if the sparrow-hawk, this nephew, fight", "In next day's tourney I may break his pride.'", "", "And Yniol answered, 'Arms, indeed, but old", "And rusty, old and rusty, Prince Geraint,", "Are mine, and therefore at thy asking, thine.", "But in this tournament can no man tilt,", "Except the lady he loves best be there.", "Two forks are fixt into the meadow ground,", "And over these is placed a silver wand,", "And over that a golden sparrow-hawk,", "The prize of beauty for the fairest there.", "And this, what knight soever be in field", "Lays claim to for the lady at his side,", "And tilts with my good nephew thereupon,", "Who being apt at arms and big of bone", "Has ever won it for the lady with him,", "And toppling over all antagonism", "Has earned himself the name of sparrow-hawk.'", "But thou, that hast no lady, canst not fight.'", "", "To whom Geraint with eyes all bright replied,", "Leaning a little toward him, 'Thy leave!", "Let ME lay lance in rest, O noble host,", "For this dear child, because I never saw,", "Though having seen all beauties of our time,", "Nor can see elsewhere, anything so fair.", "And if I fall her name will yet remain", "Untarnished as before; but if I live,", "So aid me Heaven when at mine uttermost,", "As I will make her truly my true wife.'", "", "Then, howsoever patient, Yniol's heart", "Danced in his bosom, seeing better days,", "And looking round he saw not Enid there,", "(Who hearing her own name had stolen away)", "But that old dame, to whom full tenderly", "And folding all her hand in his he said,", "'Mother, a maiden is a tender thing,", "And best by her that bore her understood.", "Go thou to rest, but ere thou go to rest", "Tell her, and prove her heart toward the Prince.'", "", "So spake the kindly-hearted Earl, and she", "With frequent smile and nod departing found,", "Half disarrayed as to her rest, the girl;", "Whom first she kissed on either cheek, and then", "On either shining shoulder laid a hand,", "And kept her off and gazed upon her face,", "And told them all their converse in the hall,", "Proving her heart: but never light and shade", "Coursed one another more on open ground", "Beneath a troubled heaven, than red and pale", "Across the face of Enid hearing her;", "While slowly falling as a scale that falls,", "When weight is added only grain by grain,", "Sank her sweet head upon her gentle breast;", "Nor did she lift an eye nor speak a word,", "Rapt in the fear and in the wonder of it;", "So moving without answer to her rest", "She found no rest, and ever failed to draw", "The quiet night into her blood, but lay", "Contemplating her own unworthiness;", "And when the pale and bloodless east began", "To quicken to the sun, arose, and raised", "Her mother too, and hand in hand they moved", "Down to the meadow where the jousts were held,", "And waited there for Yniol and Geraint.", "", "And thither came the twain, and when Geraint", "Beheld her first in field, awaiting him,", "He felt, were she the prize of bodily force,", "Himself beyond the rest pushing could move", "The chair of Idris. Yniol's rusted arms", "Were on his princely person, but through these", "Princelike his bearing shone; and errant knights", "And ladies came, and by and by the town", "Flowed in, and settling circled all the lists.", "And there they fixt the forks into the ground,", "And over these they placed the silver wand,", "And over that the golden sparrow-hawk.", "Then Yniol's nephew, after trumpet blown,", "Spake to the lady with him and proclaimed,", "'Advance and take, as fairest of the fair,", "What I these two years past have won for thee,", "The prize of beauty.' Loudly spake the Prince,", "'Forbear: there is a worthier,' and the knight", "With some surprise and thrice as much disdain", "Turned, and beheld the four, and all his face", "Glowed like the heart of a great fire at Yule,", "So burnt he was with passion, crying out,", "'Do battle for it then,' no more; and thrice", "They clashed together, and thrice they brake their spears.", "Then each, dishorsed and drawing, lashed at each", "So often and with such blows, that all the crowd", "Wondered, and now and then from distant walls", "There came a clapping as of phantom hands.", "So twice they fought, and twice they breathed, and still", "The dew of their great labour, and the blood", "Of their strong bodies, flowing, drained their force.", "But either's force was matched till Yniol's cry,", "'Remember that great insult done the Queen,'", "Increased Geraint's, who heaved his blade aloft,", "And cracked the helmet through, and bit the bone,", "And felled him, and set foot upon his breast,", "And said, 'Thy name?' To whom the fallen man", "Made answer, groaning, 'Edyrn, son of Nudd!", "Ashamed am I that I should tell it thee.", "My pride is broken: men have seen my fall.'", "'Then, Edyrn, son of Nudd,' replied Geraint,", "'These two things shalt thou do, or else thou diest.", "First, thou thyself, with damsel and with dwarf,", "Shalt ride to Arthur's court, and coming there,", "Crave pardon for that insult done the Queen,", "And shalt abide her judgment on it; next,", "Thou shalt give back their earldom to thy kin.", "These two things shalt thou do, or thou shalt die.'", "And Edyrn answered, 'These things will I do,", "For I have never yet been overthrown,", "And thou hast overthrown me, and my pride", "Is broken down, for Enid sees my fall!'", "And rising up, he rode to Arthur's court,", "And there the Queen forgave him easily.", "And being young, he changed and came to loathe", "His crime of traitor, slowly drew himself", "Bright from his old dark life, and fell at last", "In the great battle fighting for the King.", "", "But when the third day from the hunting-morn", "Made a low splendour in the world, and wings", "Moved in her ivy, Enid, for she lay", "With her fair head in the dim-yellow light,", "Among the dancing shadows of the birds,", "Woke and bethought her of her promise given", "No later than last eve to Prince Geraint--", "So bent he seemed on going the third day,", "He would not leave her, till her promise given--", "To ride with him this morning to the court,", "And there be made known to the stately Queen,", "And there be wedded with all ceremony.", "At this she cast her eyes upon her dress,", "And thought it never yet had looked so mean.", "For as a leaf in mid-November is", "To what it is in mid-October, seemed", "The dress that now she looked on to the dress", "She looked on ere the coming of Geraint.", "And still she looked, and still the terror grew", "Of that strange bright and dreadful thing, a court,", "All staring at her in her faded silk:", "And softly to her own sweet heart she said:", "", "'This noble prince who won our earldom back,", "So splendid in his acts and his attire,", "Sweet heaven, how much I shall discredit him!", "Would he could tarry with us here awhile,", "But being so beholden to the Prince,", "It were but little grace in any of us,", "Bent as he seemed on going this third day,", "To seek a second favour at his hands.", "Yet if he could but tarry a day or two,", "Myself would work eye dim, and finger lame,", "Far liefer than so much discredit him.'", "", "And Enid fell in longing for a dress", "All branched and flowered with gold, a costly gift", "Of her good mother, given her on the night", "Before her birthday, three sad years ago,", "That night of fire, when Edyrn sacked their house,", "And scattered all they had to all the winds:", "For while the mother showed it, and the two", "Were turning and admiring it, the work", "To both appeared so costly, rose a cry", "That Edyrn's men were on them, and they fled", "With little save the jewels they had on,", "Which being sold and sold had bought them bread:", "And Edyrn's men had caught them in their flight,", "And placed them in this ruin; and she wished", "The Prince had found her in her ancient home;", "Then let her fancy flit across the past,", "And roam the goodly places that she knew;", "And last bethought her how she used to watch,", "Near that old home, a pool of golden carp;", "And one was patched and blurred and lustreless", "Among his burnished brethren of the pool;", "And half asleep she made comparison", "Of that and these to her own faded self", "And the gay court, and fell asleep again;", "And dreamt herself was such a faded form", "Among her burnished sisters of the pool;", "But this was in the garden of a king;", "And though she lay dark in the pool, she knew", "That all was bright; that all about were birds", "Of sunny plume in gilded trellis-work;", "That all the turf was rich in plots that looked", "Each like a garnet or a turkis in it;", "And lords and ladies of the high court went", "In silver tissue talking things of state;", "And children of the King in cloth of gold", "Glanced at the doors or gamboled down the walks;", "And while she thought 'They will not see me,' came", "A stately queen whose name was Guinevere,", "And all the children in their cloth of gold", "Ran to her, crying, 'If we have fish at all", "Let them be gold; and charge the gardeners now", "To pick the faded creature from the pool,", "And cast it on the mixen that it die.'", "And therewithal one came and seized on her,", "And Enid started waking, with her heart", "All overshadowed by the foolish dream,", "And lo! it was her mother grasping her", "To get her well awake; and in her hand", "A suit of bright apparel, which she laid", "Flat on the couch, and spoke exultingly:", "", "'See here, my child, how fresh the colours look,", "How fast they hold like colours of a shell", "That keeps the wear and polish of the wave.", "Why not? It never yet was worn, I trow:", "Look on it, child, and tell me if ye know it.'", "", "And Enid looked, but all confused at first,", "Could scarce divide it from her foolish dream:", "Then suddenly she knew it and rejoiced,", "And answered, 'Yea, I know it; your good gift,", "So sadly lost on that unhappy night;", "Your own good gift!' 'Yea, surely,' said the dame,", "'And gladly given again this happy morn.", "For when the jousts were ended yesterday,", "Went Yniol through the town, and everywhere", "He found the sack and plunder of our house", "All scattered through the houses of the town;", "And gave command that all which once was ours", "Should now be ours again: and yester-eve,", "While ye were talking sweetly with your Prince,", "Came one with this and laid it in my hand,", "For love or fear, or seeking favour of us,", "Because we have our earldom back again.", "And yester-eve I would not tell you of it,", "But kept it for a sweet surprise at morn.", "Yea, truly is it not a sweet surprise?", "For I myself unwillingly have worn", "My faded suit, as you, my child, have yours,", "And howsoever patient, Yniol his.", "Ah, dear, he took me from a goodly house,", "With store of rich apparel, sumptuous fare,", "And page, and maid, and squire, and seneschal,", "And pastime both of hawk and hound, and all", "That appertains to noble maintenance.", "Yea, and he brought me to a goodly house;", "But since our fortune swerved from sun to shade,", "And all through that young traitor, cruel need", "Constrained us, but a better time has come;", "So clothe yourself in this, that better fits", "Our mended fortunes and a Prince's bride:", "For though ye won the prize of fairest fair,", "And though I heard him call you fairest fair,", "Let never maiden think, however fair,", "She is not fairer in new clothes than old.", "And should some great court-lady say, the Prince", "Hath picked a ragged-robin from the hedge,", "And like a madman brought her to the court,", "Then were ye shamed, and, worse, might shame the Prince", "To whom we are beholden; but I know,", "That when my dear child is set forth at her best,", "That neither court nor country, though they sought", "Through all the provinces like those of old", "That lighted on Queen Esther, has her match.'", "", "Here ceased the kindly mother out of breath;", "And Enid listened brightening as she lay;", "Then, as the white and glittering star of morn", "Parts from a bank of snow, and by and by", "Slips into golden cloud, the maiden rose,", "And left her maiden couch, and robed herself,", "Helped by the mother's careful hand and eye,", "Without a mirror, in the gorgeous gown;", "Who, after, turned her daughter round, and said,", "She never yet had seen her half so fair;", "And called her like that maiden in the tale,", "Whom Gwydion made by glamour out of flowers", "And sweeter than the bride of Cassivelaun,", "Flur, for whose love the Roman Csar first", "Invaded Britain, 'But we beat him back,", "As this great Prince invaded us, and we,", "Not beat him back, but welcomed him with joy", "And I can scarcely ride with you to court,", "For old am I, and rough the ways and wild;", "But Yniol goes, and I full oft shall dream", "I see my princess as I see her now,", "Clothed with my gift, and gay among the gay.'", "", "But while the women thus rejoiced, Geraint", "Woke where he slept in the high hall, and called", "For Enid, and when Yniol made report", "Of that good mother making Enid gay", "In such apparel as might well beseem", "His princess, or indeed the stately Queen,", "He answered: 'Earl, entreat her by my love,", "Albeit I give no reason but my wish,", "That she ride with me in her faded silk.'", "Yniol with that hard message went; it fell", "Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn:", "For Enid, all abashed she knew not why,", "Dared not to glance at her good mother's face,", "But silently, in all obedience,", "Her mother silent too, nor helping her,", "Laid from her limbs the costly-broidered gift,", "And robed them in her ancient suit again,", "And so descended. Never man rejoiced", "More than Geraint to greet her thus attired;", "And glancing all at once as keenly at her", "As careful robins eye the delver's toil,", "Made her cheek burn and either eyelid fall,", "But rested with her sweet face satisfied;", "Then seeing cloud upon the mother's brow,", "Her by both hands she caught, and sweetly said,", "", "'O my new mother, be not wroth or grieved", "At thy new son, for my petition to her.", "When late I left Caerleon, our great Queen,", "In words whose echo lasts, they were so sweet,", "Made promise, that whatever bride I brought,", "Herself would clothe her like the sun in Heaven.", "Thereafter, when I reached this ruined hall,", "Beholding one so bright in dark estate,", "I vowed that could I gain her, our fair Queen,", "No hand but hers, should make your Enid burst", "Sunlike from cloud--and likewise thought perhaps,", "That service done so graciously would bind", "The two together; fain I would the two", "Should love each other: how can Enid find", "A nobler friend? Another thought was mine;", "I came among you here so suddenly,", "That though her gentle presence at the lists", "Might well have served for proof that I was loved,", "I doubted whether daughter's tenderness,", "Or easy nature, might not let itself", "Be moulded by your wishes for her weal;", "Or whether some false sense in her own self", "Of my contrasting brightness, overbore", "Her fancy dwelling in this dusky hall;", "And such a sense might make her long for court", "And all its perilous glories: and I thought,", "That could I someway prove such force in her", "Linked with such love for me, that at a word", "(No reason given her) she could cast aside", "A splendour dear to women, new to her,", "And therefore dearer; or if not so new,", "Yet therefore tenfold dearer by the power", "Of intermitted usage; then I felt", "That I could rest, a rock in ebbs and flows,", "Fixt on her faith. Now, therefore, I do rest,", "A prophet certain of my prophecy,", "That never shadow of mistrust can cross", "Between us. Grant me pardon for my thoughts:", "And for my strange petition I will make", "Amends hereafter by some gaudy-day,", "When your fair child shall wear your costly gift", "Beside your own warm hearth, with, on her knees,", "Who knows? another gift of the high God,", "Which, maybe, shall have learned to lisp you thanks.'", "", "He spoke: the mother smiled, but half in tears,", "Then brought a mantle down and wrapt her in it,", "And claspt and kissed her, and they rode away.", "", "Now thrice that morning Guinevere had climbed", "The giant tower, from whose high crest, they say,", "Men saw the goodly hills of Somerset,", "And white sails flying on the yellow sea;", "But not to goodly hill or yellow sea", "Looked the fair Queen, but up the vale of Usk,", "By the flat meadow, till she saw them come;", "And then descending met them at the gates,", "Embraced her with all welcome as a friend,", "And did her honour as the Prince's bride,", "And clothed her for her bridals like the sun;", "And all that week was old Caerleon gay,", "For by the hands of Dubric, the high saint,", "They twain were wedded with all ceremony.", "", "And this was on the last year's Whitsuntide.", "But Enid ever kept the faded silk,", "Remembering how first he came on her,", "Drest in that dress, and how he loved her in it,", "And all her foolish fears about the dress,", "And all his journey toward her, as himself", "Had told her, and their coming to the court.", "", "And now this morning when he said to her,", "'Put on your worst and meanest dress,' she found", "And took it, and arrayed herself therein." ], "linecount": "849" }, { "title": "Demeter and Persephone", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "Faint as a climate-changing bird that flies", "All night across the darkness, and at dawn", "Falls on the threshold of her native land,", "And can no more, thou camest, O my child,", "Led upward by the God of ghosts and dreams,", "Who laid thee at Eleusis, dazed and dumb,", "With passing thro' at once from state to state,", "Until I brought thee hither, that the day,", "When here thy hands let fall the gather'd flower,", "Might break thro' clouded memories once again", "On thy lost self. A sudden nightingale", "Saw thee, and flash'd into a frolic of song", "And welcome; and a gleam as of the moon,", "When first she peers along the tremulous deep,", "Fled wavering o'er thy face, and chased away", "That shadow of a likeness to the king", "Of shadows, thy dark mate. Persephone!", "Queen of the dead no more -- my child! Thine eyes", "Again were human-godlike, and the Sun", "Burst from a swimming fleece of winter gray,", "And robed thee in his day from head to feet --", "\"Mother!\" and I was folded in thine arms.", "", "Child, those imperial, disimpassion'd eyes", "Awed even me at first, thy mother -- eyes", "That oft had seen the serpent-wanded power", "Draw downward into Hades with his drift", "Of fickering spectres, lighted from below", "By the red race of fiery Phlegethon;", "But when before have Gods or men beheld", "The Life that had descended re-arise,", "And lighted from above him by the Sun?", "So mighty was the mother's childless cry,", "A cry that ran thro' Hades, Earth, and Heaven!", "", "So in this pleasant vale we stand again,", "The field of Enna, now once more ablaze", "With flowers that brighten as thy footstep falls,", "All flowers -- but for one black blur of earth", "Left by that closing chasm, thro' which the car", "Of dark Aidoneus rising rapt thee hence.", "And here, my child, tho' folded in thine arms,", "I feel the deathless heart of motherhood", "Within me shudder, lest the naked glebe", "Should yawn once more into the gulf, and thence", "The shrilly whinnyings of the team of Hell,", "Ascending, pierce the glad and songful air,", "And all at once their arch'd necks, midnight-maned,", "Jet upward thro' the mid-day blossom. No!", "For, see, thy foot has touch'd it; all the space", "Of blank earth-baldness clothes itself afresh,", "And breaks into the crocus-purple hour", "That saw thee vanish.", "", "Child, when thou wert gone,", "I envied human wives, and nested birds,", "Yea, the cubb'd lioness; went in search of thee", "Thro' many a palace, many a cot, and gave", "Thy breast to ailing infants in the night,", "And set the mother waking in amaze", "To find her sick one whole; and forth again", "Among the wail of midnight winds, and cried,", "\"Where is my loved one? Wherefore do ye wail?\"", "And out from all the night an answer shrill'd,", "\"We know not, and we know not why we wail.\"", "I climb'd on all the cliffs of all the seas,", "And ask'd the waves that moan about the world", "\"Where? do ye make your moaning for my child?\"", "And round from all the world the voices came", "\"We know not, and we know not why we moan.\"", "\"Where?\" and I stared from every eagle-peak,", "I thridded the black heart of all the woods,", "I peer'd thro' tomb and cave, and in the storms", "Of Autumn swept across the city, and heard", "The murmur of their temples chanting me,", "Me, me, the desolate Mother! \"Where\"? -- and turn'd,", "And fled by many a waste, forlorn of man,", "And grieved for man thro' all my grief for thee, --", "The jungle rooted in his shatter'd hearth,", "The serpent coil'd about his broken shaft,", "The scorpion crawling over naked skulls; --", "I saw the tiger in the ruin'd fane", "Spring from his fallen God, but trace of thee", "I saw not; and far on, and, following out", "A league of labyrinthine darkness, came", "On three gray heads beneath a gleaming rift.", "\"Where\"? and I heard one voice from all the three", "\"We know not, for we spin the lives of men,", "And not of Gods, and know not why we spin!", "There is a Fate beyond us.\" Nothing knew.", "", "Last as the likeness of a dying man,", "Without his knowledge, from him flits to warn", "A far-off friendship that he comes no more,", "So he, the God of dreams, who heard my cry,", "Drew from thyself the likeness of thyself", "Without thy knowledge, and thy shadow past", "Before me, crying \"The Bright one in the highest", "Is brother of the Dark one in the lowest,", "And Bright and Dark have sworn that I, the child", "Of thee, the great Earth-Mother, thee, the Power", "That lifts her buried life from loom to bloom,", "Should be for ever and for evermore", "The Bride of Darkness.\"", "", "So the Shadow wail'd.", "Then I, Earth-Goddess, cursed the Gods of Heaven.", "I would not mingle with their feasts; to me", "Their nectar smack'd of hemlock on the lips,", "Their rich ambrosia tasted aconite.", "The man, that only lives and loves an hour,", "Seem'd nobler than their hard Eternities.", "My quick tears kill'd the flower, my ravings hush'd", "The bird, and lost in utter grief I fail'd", "To send my life thro' olive-yard and vine", "And golden grain, my gift to helpless man.", "Rain-rotten died the wheat, the barley-spears", "Were hollow-husk'd, the leaf fell, and the sun,", "Pale at my grief, drew down before his time", "Sickening, and Aetna kept her winter snow.", "Then He, the brother of this Darkness, He", "Who still is highest, glancing from his height", "On earth a fruitless fallow, when he miss'd", "The wonted steam of sacrifice, the praise", "And prayer of men, decreed that thou should'st dwell", "For nine white moons of each whole year with me,", "Three dark ones in the shadow with thy King.", "", "Once more the reaper in the gleam of dawn", "Will see me by the landmark far away,", "Blessing his field, or seated in the dusk", "Of even, by the lonely threshing-floor,", "Rejoicing in the harvest and the grange.", "Yet I, Earth-Goddess, am but ill-content", "With them, who still are highest. Those gray heads,", "What meant they by their \"Fate beyond the Fates\"", "But younger kindlier Gods to bear us down,", "As we bore down the Gods before us? Gods,", "To quench, not hurl the thunderbolt, to stay,", "Not spread the plague, the famine; Gods indeed,", "To send the noon into the night and break", "The sunless halls of Hades into Heaven?", "Till thy dark lord accept and love the Sun,", "And all the Shadow die into the Light,", "When thou shalt dwell the whole bright year with me,", "And souls of men, who grew beyond their race,", "And made themselves as Gods against the fear", "Of Death and Hell; and thou that hast from men,", "As Queen of Death, that worship which is Fear,", "Henceforth, as having risen from out the dead,", "Shalt ever send thy life along with mine", "From buried grain thro' springing blade, and bless", "Their garner'd Autumn also, reap with me,", "Earth-mother, in the harvest hymns of Earth", "The worship which is Love, and see no more", "The Stone, the Wheel, the dimly-glimmering lawns", "Of that Elysium, all the hateful fires", "Of torment, and the shadowy warrior glide", "Along the silent field of Asphodel." ], "linecount": "153" }, { "title": "Gareth and Lynette", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "The last tall son of Lot and Bellicent,", "And tallest, Gareth, in a showerful spring", "Stared at the spate. A slender-shafted Pine", "Lost footing, fell, and so was whirled away.", "'How he went down,' said Gareth, 'as a false knight", "Or evil king before my lance if lance", "Were mine to use--O senseless cataract,", "Bearing all down in thy precipitancy--", "And yet thou art but swollen with cold snows", "And mine is living blood: thou dost His will,", "The Maker's, and not knowest, and I that know,", "Have strength and wit, in my good mother's hall", "Linger with vacillating obedience,", "Prisoned, and kept and coaxed and whistled to--", "Since the good mother holds me still a child!", "Good mother is bad mother unto me!", "A worse were better; yet no worse would I.", "Heaven yield her for it, but in me put force", "To weary her ears with one continuous prayer,", "Until she let me fly discaged to sweep", "In ever-highering eagle-circles up", "To the great Sun of Glory, and thence swoop", "Down upon all things base, and dash them dead,", "A knight of Arthur, working out his will,", "To cleanse the world. Why, Gawain, when he came", "With Modred hither in the summertime,", "Asked me to tilt with him, the proven knight.", "Modred for want of worthier was the judge.", "Then I so shook him in the saddle, he said,", "\"Thou hast half prevailed against me,\" said so--he--", "Though Modred biting his thin lips was mute,", "For he is alway sullen: what care I?'", "", "And Gareth went, and hovering round her chair", "Asked, 'Mother, though ye count me still the child,", "Sweet mother, do ye love the child?' She laughed,", "'Thou art but a wild-goose to question it.'", "'Then, mother, an ye love the child,' he said,", "'Being a goose and rather tame than wild,", "Hear the child's story.' 'Yea, my well-beloved,", "An 'twere but of the goose and golden eggs.'", "", "And Gareth answered her with kindling eyes,", "'Nay, nay, good mother, but this egg of mine", "Was finer gold than any goose can lay;", "For this an Eagle, a royal Eagle, laid", "Almost beyond eye-reach, on such a palm", "As glitters gilded in thy Book of Hours.", "And there was ever haunting round the palm", "A lusty youth, but poor, who often saw", "The splendour sparkling from aloft, and thought", "\"An I could climb and lay my hand upon it,", "Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.\"", "But ever when he reached a hand to climb,", "One, that had loved him from his childhood, caught", "And stayed him, \"Climb not lest thou break thy neck,", "I charge thee by my love,\" and so the boy,", "Sweet mother, neither clomb, nor brake his neck,", "But brake his very heart in pining for it,", "And past away.'", "", "To whom the mother said,", "'True love, sweet son, had risked himself and climbed,", "And handed down the golden treasure to him.'", "", "And Gareth answered her with kindling eyes,", "'Gold?' said I gold?--ay then, why he, or she,", "Or whosoe'er it was, or half the world", "Had ventured--HAD the thing I spake of been", "Mere gold--but this was all of that true steel,", "Whereof they forged the brand Excalibur,", "And lightnings played about it in the storm,", "And all the little fowl were flurried at it,", "And there were cries and clashings in the nest,", "That sent him from his senses: let me go.'", "", "Then Bellicent bemoaned herself and said,", "'Hast thou no pity upon my loneliness?", "Lo, where thy father Lot beside the hearth", "Lies like a log, and all but smouldered out!", "For ever since when traitor to the King", "He fought against him in the Barons' war,", "And Arthur gave him back his territory,", "His age hath slowly droopt, and now lies there", "A yet-warm corpse, and yet unburiable,", "No more; nor sees, nor hears, nor speaks, nor knows.", "And both thy brethren are in Arthur's hall,", "Albeit neither loved with that full love", "I feel for thee, nor worthy such a love:", "Stay therefore thou; red berries charm the bird,", "And thee, mine innocent, the jousts, the wars,", "Who never knewest finger-ache, nor pang", "Of wrenched or broken limb--an often chance", "In those brain-stunning shocks, and tourney-falls,", "Frights to my heart; but stay: follow the deer", "By these tall firs and our fast-falling burns;", "So make thy manhood mightier day by day;", "Sweet is the chase: and I will seek thee out", "Some comfortable bride and fair, to grace", "Thy climbing life, and cherish my prone year,", "Till falling into Lot's forgetfulness", "I know not thee, myself, nor anything.", "Stay, my best son! ye are yet more boy than man.'", "", "Then Gareth, 'An ye hold me yet for child,", "Hear yet once more the story of the child.", "For, mother, there was once a King, like ours.", "The prince his heir, when tall and marriageable,", "Asked for a bride; and thereupon the King", "Set two before him. One was fair, strong, armed--", "But to be won by force--and many men", "Desired her; one good lack, no man desired.", "And these were the conditions of the King:", "That save he won the first by force, he needs", "Must wed that other, whom no man desired,", "A red-faced bride who knew herself so vile,", "That evermore she longed to hide herself,", "Nor fronted man or woman, eye to eye--", "Yea--some she cleaved to, but they died of her.", "And one--they called her Fame; and one,--O Mother,", "How can ye keep me tethered to you--Shame.", "Man am I grown, a man's work must I do.", "Follow the deer? follow the Christ, the King,", "Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King--", "Else, wherefore born?'", "", "To whom the mother said", "'Sweet son, for there be many who deem him not,", "Or will not deem him, wholly proven King--", "Albeit in mine own heart I knew him King,", "When I was frequent with him in my youth,", "And heard him Kingly speak, and doubted him", "No more than he, himself; but felt him mine,", "Of closest kin to me: yet--wilt thou leave", "Thine easeful biding here, and risk thine all,", "Life, limbs, for one that is not proven King?", "Stay, till the cloud that settles round his birth", "Hath lifted but a little. Stay, sweet son.'", "", "And Gareth answered quickly, 'Not an hour,", "So that ye yield me--I will walk through fire,", "Mother, to gain it--your full leave to go.", "Not proven, who swept the dust of ruined Rome", "From off the threshold of the realm, and crushed", "The Idolaters, and made the people free?", "Who should be King save him who makes us free?'", "", "So when the Queen, who long had sought in vain", "To break him from the intent to which he grew,", "Found her son's will unwaveringly one,", "She answered craftily, 'Will ye walk through fire?", "Who walks through fire will hardly heed the smoke.", "Ay, go then, an ye must: only one proof,", "Before thou ask the King to make thee knight,", "Of thine obedience and thy love to me,", "Thy mother,--I demand.", "", "And Gareth cried,", "'A hard one, or a hundred, so I go.", "Nay--quick! the proof to prove me to the quick!'", "", "But slowly spake the mother looking at him,", "'Prince, thou shalt go disguised to Arthur's hall,", "And hire thyself to serve for meats and drinks", "Among the scullions and the kitchen-knaves,", "And those that hand the dish across the bar.", "Nor shalt thou tell thy name to anyone.", "And thou shalt serve a twelvemonth and a day.'", "", "For so the Queen believed that when her son", "Beheld his only way to glory lead", "Low down through villain kitchen-vassalage,", "Her own true Gareth was too princely-proud", "To pass thereby; so should he rest with her,", "Closed in her castle from the sound of arms.", "", "Silent awhile was Gareth, then replied,", "'The thrall in person may be free in soul,", "And I shall see the jousts. Thy son am I,", "And since thou art my mother, must obey.", "I therefore yield me freely to thy will;", "For hence will I, disguised, and hire myself", "To serve with scullions and with kitchen-knaves;", "Nor tell my name to any--no, not the King.'", "", "Gareth awhile lingered. The mother's eye", "Full of the wistful fear that he would go,", "And turning toward him wheresoe'er he turned,", "Perplext his outward purpose, till an hour,", "When wakened by the wind which with full voice", "Swept bellowing through the darkness on to dawn,", "He rose, and out of slumber calling two", "That still had tended on him from his birth,", "Before the wakeful mother heard him, went.", "", "The three were clad like tillers of the soil.", "Southward they set their faces. The birds made", "Melody on branch, and melody in mid air.", "The damp hill-slopes were quickened into green,", "And the live green had kindled into flowers,", "For it was past the time of Easterday.", "", "So, when their feet were planted on the plain", "That broadened toward the base of Camelot,", "Far off they saw the silver-misty morn", "Rolling her smoke about the Royal mount,", "That rose between the forest and the field.", "At times the summit of the high city flashed;", "At times the spires and turrets half-way down", "Pricked through the mist; at times the great gate shone", "Only, that opened on the field below:", "Anon, the whole fair city had disappeared.", "", "Then those who went with Gareth were amazed,", "One crying, 'Let us go no further, lord.", "Here is a city of Enchanters, built", "By fairy Kings.' The second echoed him,", "'Lord, we have heard from our wise man at home", "To Northward, that this King is not the King,", "But only changeling out of Fairyland,", "Who drave the heathen hence by sorcery", "And Merlin's glamour.' Then the first again,", "'Lord, there is no such city anywhere,", "But all a vision.'", "", "Gareth answered them", "With laughter, swearing he had glamour enow", "In his own blood, his princedom, youth and hopes,", "To plunge old Merlin in the Arabian sea;", "So pushed them all unwilling toward the gate.", "And there was no gate like it under heaven.", "For barefoot on the keystone, which was lined", "And rippled like an ever-fleeting wave,", "The Lady of the Lake stood: all her dress", "Wept from her sides as water flowing away;", "But like the cross her great and goodly arms", "Stretched under the cornice and upheld:", "And drops of water fell from either hand;", "And down from one a sword was hung, from one", "A censer, either worn with wind and storm;", "And o'er her breast floated the sacred fish;", "And in the space to left of her, and right,", "Were Arthur's wars in weird devices done,", "New things and old co-twisted, as if Time", "Were nothing, so inveterately, that men", "Were giddy gazing there; and over all", "High on the top were those three Queens, the friends", "Of Arthur, who should help him at his need.", "", "Then those with Gareth for so long a space", "Stared at the figures, that at last it seemed", "The dragon-boughts and elvish emblemings", "Began to move, seethe, twine and curl: they called", "To Gareth, 'Lord, the gateway is alive.'", "", "And Gareth likewise on them fixt his eyes", "So long, that even to him they seemed to move.", "Out of the city a blast of music pealed.", "Back from the gate started the three, to whom", "From out thereunder came an ancient man,", "Long-bearded, saying, 'Who be ye, my sons?'", "", "Then Gareth, 'We be tillers of the soil,", "Who leaving share in furrow come to see", "The glories of our King: but these, my men,", "(Your city moved so weirdly in the mist)", "Doubt if the King be King at all, or come", "From Fairyland; and whether this be built", "By magic, and by fairy Kings and Queens;", "Or whether there be any city at all,", "Or all a vision: and this music now", "Hath scared them both, but tell thou these the truth.'", "", "Then that old Seer made answer playing on him", "And saying, 'Son, I have seen the good ship sail", "Keel upward, and mast downward, in the heavens,", "And solid turrets topsy-turvy in air:", "And here is truth; but an it please thee not,", "Take thou the truth as thou hast told it me.", "For truly as thou sayest, a Fairy King", "And Fairy Queens have built the city, son;", "They came from out a sacred mountain-cleft", "Toward the sunrise, each with harp in hand,", "And built it to the music of their harps.", "And, as thou sayest, it is enchanted, son,", "For there is nothing in it as it seems", "Saving the King; though some there be that hold", "The King a shadow, and the city real:", "Yet take thou heed of him, for, so thou pass", "Beneath this archway, then wilt thou become", "A thrall to his enchantments, for the King", "Will bind thee by such vows, as is a shame", "A man should not be bound by, yet the which", "No man can keep; but, so thou dread to swear,", "Pass not beneath this gateway, but abide", "Without, among the cattle of the field.", "For an ye heard a music, like enow", "They are building still, seeing the city is built", "To music, therefore never built at all,", "And therefore built for ever.'", "", "Gareth spake", "Angered, 'Old master, reverence thine own beard", "That looks as white as utter truth, and seems", "Wellnigh as long as thou art statured tall!", "Why mockest thou the stranger that hath been", "To thee fair-spoken?'", "", "But the Seer replied,", "'Know ye not then the Riddling of the Bards?", "\"Confusion, and illusion, and relation,", "Elusion, and occasion, and evasion\"?", "I mock thee not but as thou mockest me,", "And all that see thee, for thou art not who", "Thou seemest, but I know thee who thou art.", "And now thou goest up to mock the King,", "Who cannot brook the shadow of any lie.'", "", "Unmockingly the mocker ending here", "Turned to the right, and past along the plain;", "Whom Gareth looking after said, 'My men,", "Our one white lie sits like a little ghost", "Here on the threshold of our enterprise.", "Let love be blamed for it, not she, nor I:", "Well, we will make amends.'", "", "With all good cheer", "He spake and laughed, then entered with his twain", "Camelot, a city of shadowy palaces", "And stately, rich in emblem and the work", "Of ancient kings who did their days in stone;", "Which Merlin's hand, the Mage at Arthur's court,", "Knowing all arts, had touched, and everywhere", "At Arthur's ordinance, tipt with lessening peak", "And pinnacle, and had made it spire to heaven.", "And ever and anon a knight would pass", "Outward, or inward to the hall: his arms", "Clashed; and the sound was good to Gareth's ear.", "And out of bower and casement shyly glanced", "Eyes of pure women, wholesome stars of love;", "And all about a healthful people stept", "As in the presence of a gracious king.", "", "Then into hall Gareth ascending heard", "A voice, the voice of Arthur, and beheld", "Far over heads in that long-vaulted hall", "The splendour of the presence of the King", "Throned, and delivering doom--and looked no more--", "But felt his young heart hammering in his ears,", "And thought, 'For this half-shadow of a lie", "The truthful King will doom me when I speak.'", "Yet pressing on, though all in fear to find", "Sir Gawain or Sir Modred, saw nor one", "Nor other, but in all the listening eyes", "Of those tall knights, that ranged about the throne,", "Clear honour shining like the dewy star", "Of dawn, and faith in their great King, with pure", "Affection, and the light of victory,", "And glory gained, and evermore to gain.", "Then came a widow crying to the King,", "'A boon, Sir King! Thy father, Uther, reft", "From my dead lord a field with violence:", "For howsoe'er at first he proffered gold,", "Yet, for the field was pleasant in our eyes,", "We yielded not; and then he reft us of it", "Perforce, and left us neither gold nor field.'", "", "Said Arthur, 'Whether would ye? gold or field?'", "To whom the woman weeping, 'Nay, my lord,", "The field was pleasant in my husband's eye.'", "", "And Arthur, 'Have thy pleasant field again,", "And thrice the gold for Uther's use thereof,", "According to the years. No boon is here,", "But justice, so thy say be proven true.", "Accursed, who from the wrongs his father did", "Would shape himself a right!'", "", "And while she past,", "Came yet another widow crying to him,", "'A boon, Sir King! Thine enemy, King, am I.", "With thine own hand thou slewest my dear lord,", "A knight of Uther in the Barons' war,", "When Lot and many another rose and fought", "Against thee, saying thou wert basely born.", "I held with these, and loathe to ask thee aught.", "Yet lo! my husband's brother had my son", "Thralled in his castle, and hath starved him dead;", "And standeth seized of that inheritance", "Which thou that slewest the sire hast left the son.", "So though I scarce can ask it thee for hate,", "Grant me some knight to do the battle for me,", "Kill the foul thief, and wreak me for my son.'", "", "Then strode a good knight forward, crying to him,", "'A boon, Sir King! I am her kinsman, I.", "Give me to right her wrong, and slay the man.'", "", "Then came Sir Kay, the seneschal, and cried,", "'A boon, Sir King! even that thou grant her none,", "This railer, that hath mocked thee in full hall--", "None; or the wholesome boon of gyve and gag.'", "", "But Arthur, 'We sit King, to help the wronged", "Through all our realm. The woman loves her lord.", "Peace to thee, woman, with thy loves and hates!", "The kings of old had doomed thee to the flames,", "Aurelius Emrys would have scourged thee dead,", "And Uther slit thy tongue: but get thee hence--", "Lest that rough humour of the kings of old", "Return upon me! Thou that art her kin,", "Go likewise; lay him low and slay him not,", "But bring him here, that I may judge the right,", "According to the justice of the King:", "Then, be he guilty, by that deathless King", "Who lived and died for men, the man shall die.'", "", "Then came in hall the messenger of Mark,", "A name of evil savour in the land,", "The Cornish king. In either hand he bore", "What dazzled all, and shone far-off as shines", "A field of charlock in the sudden sun", "Between two showers, a cloth of palest gold,", "Which down he laid before the throne, and knelt,", "Delivering, that his lord, the vassal king,", "Was even upon his way to Camelot;", "For having heard that Arthur of his grace", "Had made his goodly cousin, Tristram, knight,", "And, for himself was of the greater state,", "Being a king, he trusted his liege-lord", "Would yield him this large honour all the more;", "So prayed him well to accept this cloth of gold,", "In token of true heart and felty.", "", "Then Arthur cried to rend the cloth, to rend", "In pieces, and so cast it on the hearth.", "An oak-tree smouldered there. 'The goodly knight!", "What! shall the shield of Mark stand among these?'", "For, midway down the side of that long hall", "A stately pile,--whereof along the front,", "Some blazoned, some but carven, and some blank,", "There ran a treble range of stony shields,--", "Rose, and high-arching overbrowed the hearth.", "And under every shield a knight was named:", "For this was Arthur's custom in his hall;", "When some good knight had done one noble deed,", "His arms were carven only; but if twain", "His arms were blazoned also; but if none,", "The shield was blank and bare without a sign", "Saving the name beneath; and Gareth saw", "The shield of Gawain blazoned rich and bright,", "And Modred's blank as death; and Arthur cried", "To rend the cloth and cast it on the hearth.", "", "'More like are we to reave him of his crown", "Than make him knight because men call him king.", "The kings we found, ye know we stayed their hands", "From war among themselves, but left them kings;", "Of whom were any bounteous, merciful,", "Truth-speaking, brave, good livers, them we enrolled", "Among us, and they sit within our hall.", "But as Mark hath tarnished the great name of king,", "As Mark would sully the low state of churl:", "And, seeing he hath sent us cloth of gold,", "Return, and meet, and hold him from our eyes,", "Lest we should lap him up in cloth of lead,", "Silenced for ever--craven--a man of plots,", "Craft, poisonous counsels, wayside ambushings--", "No fault of thine: let Kay the seneschal", "Look to thy wants, and send thee satisfied--", "Accursed, who strikes nor lets the hand be seen!'", "", "And many another suppliant crying came", "With noise of ravage wrought by beast and man,", "And evermore a knight would ride away.", "", "Last, Gareth leaning both hands heavily", "Down on the shoulders of the twain, his men,", "Approached between them toward the King, and asked,", "'A boon, Sir King (his voice was all ashamed),", "For see ye not how weak and hungerworn", "I seem--leaning on these? grant me to serve", "For meat and drink among thy kitchen-knaves", "A twelvemonth and a day, nor seek my name.", "Hereafter I will fight.'", "", "To him the King,", "'A goodly youth and worth a goodlier boon!", "But so thou wilt no goodlier, then must Kay,", "The master of the meats and drinks, be thine.'", "", "He rose and past; then Kay, a man of mien", "Wan-sallow as the plant that feels itself", "Root-bitten by white lichen,", "", "'Lo ye now!", "This fellow hath broken from some Abbey, where,", "God wot, he had not beef and brewis enow,", "However that might chance! but an he work,", "Like any pigeon will I cram his crop,", "And sleeker shall he shine than any hog.'", "", "Then Lancelot standing near, 'Sir Seneschal,", "Sleuth-hound thou knowest, and gray, and all the hounds;", "A horse thou knowest, a man thou dost not know:", "Broad brows and fair, a fluent hair and fine,", "High nose, a nostril large and fine, and hands", "Large, fair and fine!--Some young lad's mystery--", "But, or from sheepcot or king's hall, the boy", "Is noble-natured. Treat him with all grace,", "Lest he should come to shame thy judging of him.'", "", "Then Kay, 'What murmurest thou of mystery?", "Think ye this fellow will poison the King's dish?", "Nay, for he spake too fool-like: mystery!", "Tut, an the lad were noble, he had asked", "For horse and armour: fair and fine, forsooth!", "Sir Fine-face, Sir Fair-hands? but see thou to it", "That thine own fineness, Lancelot, some fine day", "Undo thee not--and leave my man to me.'", "", "So Gareth all for glory underwent", "The sooty yoke of kitchen-vassalage;", "Ate with young lads his portion by the door,", "And couched at night with grimy kitchen-knaves.", "And Lancelot ever spake him pleasantly,", "But Kay the seneschal, who loved him not,", "Would hustle and harry him, and labour him", "Beyond his comrade of the hearth, and set", "To turn the broach, draw water, or hew wood,", "Or grosser tasks; and Gareth bowed himself", "With all obedience to the King, and wrought", "All kind of service with a noble ease", "That graced the lowliest act in doing it.", "And when the thralls had talk among themselves,", "And one would praise the love that linkt the King", "And Lancelot--how the King had saved his life", "In battle twice, and Lancelot once the King's--", "For Lancelot was the first in Tournament,", "But Arthur mightiest on the battle-field--", "Gareth was glad. Or if some other told,", "How once the wandering forester at dawn,", "Far over the blue tarns and hazy seas,", "On Caer-Eryri's highest found the King,", "A naked babe, of whom the Prophet spake,", "'He passes to the Isle Avilion,", "He passes and is healed and cannot die'--", "Gareth was glad. But if their talk were foul,", "Then would he whistle rapid as any lark,", "Or carol some old roundelay, and so loud", "That first they mocked, but, after, reverenced him.", "Or Gareth telling some prodigious tale", "Of knights, who sliced a red life-bubbling way", "Through twenty folds of twisted dragon, held", "All in a gap-mouthed circle his good mates", "Lying or sitting round him, idle hands,", "Charmed; till Sir Kay, the seneschal, would come", "Blustering upon them, like a sudden wind", "Among dead leaves, and drive them all apart.", "Or when the thralls had sport among themselves,", "So there were any trial of mastery,", "He, by two yards in casting bar or stone", "Was counted best; and if there chanced a joust,", "So that Sir Kay nodded him leave to go,", "Would hurry thither, and when he saw the knights", "Clash like the coming and retiring wave,", "And the spear spring, and good horse reel, the boy", "Was half beyond himself for ecstasy.", "", "So for a month he wrought among the thralls;", "But in the weeks that followed, the good Queen,", "Repentant of the word she made him swear,", "And saddening in her childless castle, sent,", "Between the in-crescent and de-crescent moon,", "Arms for her son, and loosed him from his vow.", "", "This, Gareth hearing from a squire of Lot", "With whom he used to play at tourney once,", "When both were children, and in lonely haunts", "Would scratch a ragged oval on the sand,", "And each at either dash from either end--", "Shame never made girl redder than Gareth joy.", "He laughed; he sprang. 'Out of the smoke, at once", "I leap from Satan's foot to Peter's knee--", "These news be mine, none other's--nay, the King's--", "Descend into the city:' whereon he sought", "The King alone, and found, and told him all.", "", "'I have staggered thy strong Gawain in a tilt", "For pastime; yea, he said it: joust can I.", "Make me thy knight--in secret! let my name", "Be hidden, and give me the first quest, I spring", "Like flame from ashes.'", "", "Here the King's calm eye", "Fell on, and checked, and made him flush, and bow", "Lowly, to kiss his hand, who answered him,", "'Son, the good mother let me know thee here,", "And sent her wish that I would yield thee thine.", "Make thee my knight? my knights are sworn to vows", "Of utter hardihood, utter gentleness,", "And, loving, utter faithfulness in love,", "And uttermost obedience to the King.'", "", "Then Gareth, lightly springing from his knees,", "'My King, for hardihood I can promise thee.", "For uttermost obedience make demand", "Of whom ye gave me to, the Seneschal,", "No mellow master of the meats and drinks!", "And as for love, God wot, I love not yet,", "But love I shall, God willing.'", "", "And the King", "'Make thee my knight in secret? yea, but he,", "Our noblest brother, and our truest man,", "And one with me in all, he needs must know.'", "", "'Let Lancelot know, my King, let Lancelot know,", "Thy noblest and thy truest!'", "", "And the King--", "'But wherefore would ye men should wonder at you?", "Nay, rather for the sake of me, their King,", "And the deed's sake my knighthood do the deed,", "Than to be noised of.'", "", "Merrily Gareth asked,", "'Have I not earned my cake in baking of it?", "Let be my name until I make my name!", "My deeds will speak: it is but for a day.'", "So with a kindly hand on Gareth's arm", "Smiled the great King, and half-unwillingly", "Loving his lusty youthhood yielded to him.", "Then, after summoning Lancelot privily,", "'I have given him the first quest: he is not proven.", "Look therefore when he calls for this in hall,", "Thou get to horse and follow him far away.", "Cover the lions on thy shield, and see", "Far as thou mayest, he be nor ta'en nor slain.'", "", "Then that same day there past into the hall", "A damsel of high lineage, and a brow", "May-blossom, and a cheek of apple-blossom,", "Hawk-eyes; and lightly was her slender nose", "Tip-tilted like the petal of a flower;", "She into hall past with her page and cried,", "", "'O King, for thou hast driven the foe without,", "See to the foe within! bridge, ford, beset", "By bandits, everyone that owns a tower", "The Lord for half a league. Why sit ye there?", "Rest would I not, Sir King, an I were king,", "Till even the lonest hold were all as free", "From cursd bloodshed, as thine altar-cloth", "From that best blood it is a sin to spill.'", "", "'Comfort thyself,' said Arthur. 'I nor mine", "Rest: so my knighthood keep the vows they swore,", "The wastest moorland of our realm shall be", "Safe, damsel, as the centre of this hall.", "What is thy name? thy need?'", "", "'My name?' she said--", "'Lynette my name; noble; my need, a knight", "To combat for my sister, Lyonors,", "A lady of high lineage, of great lands,", "And comely, yea, and comelier than myself.", "She lives in Castle Perilous: a river", "Runs in three loops about her living-place;", "And o'er it are three passings, and three knights", "Defend the passings, brethren, and a fourth", "And of that four the mightiest, holds her stayed", "In her own castle, and so besieges her", "To break her will, and make her wed with him:", "And but delays his purport till thou send", "To do the battle with him, thy chief man", "Sir Lancelot whom he trusts to overthrow,", "Then wed, with glory: but she will not wed", "Save whom she loveth, or a holy life.", "Now therefore have I come for Lancelot.'", "", "Then Arthur mindful of Sir Gareth asked,", "'Damsel, ye know this Order lives to crush", "All wrongers of the Realm. But say, these four,", "Who be they? What the fashion of the men?'", "", "'They be of foolish fashion, O Sir King,", "The fashion of that old knight-errantry", "Who ride abroad, and do but what they will;", "Courteous or bestial from the moment, such", "As have nor law nor king; and three of these", "Proud in their fantasy call themselves the Day,", "Morning-Star, and Noon-Sun, and Evening-Star,", "Being strong fools; and never a whit more wise", "The fourth, who alway rideth armed in black,", "A huge man-beast of boundless savagery.", "He names himself the Night and oftener Death,", "And wears a helmet mounted with a skull,", "And bears a skeleton figured on his arms,", "To show that who may slay or scape the three,", "Slain by himself, shall enter endless night.", "And all these four be fools, but mighty men,", "And therefore am I come for Lancelot.'", "", "Hereat Sir Gareth called from where he rose,", "A head with kindling eyes above the throng,", "'A boon, Sir King--this quest!' then--for he marked", "Kay near him groaning like a wounded bull--", "'Yea, King, thou knowest thy kitchen-knave am I,", "And mighty through thy meats and drinks am I,", "And I can topple over a hundred such.", "Thy promise, King,' and Arthur glancing at him,", "Brought down a momentary brow. 'Rough, sudden,", "And pardonable, worthy to be knight--", "Go therefore,' and all hearers were amazed.", "", "But on the damsel's forehead shame, pride, wrath", "Slew the May-white: she lifted either arm,", "'Fie on thee, King! I asked for thy chief knight,", "And thou hast given me but a kitchen-knave.'", "Then ere a man in hall could stay her, turned,", "Fled down the lane of access to the King,", "Took horse, descended the slope street, and past", "The weird white gate, and paused without, beside", "The field of tourney, murmuring 'kitchen-knave.'", "", "Now two great entries opened from the hall,", "At one end one, that gave upon a range", "Of level pavement where the King would pace", "At sunrise, gazing over plain and wood;", "And down from this a lordly stairway sloped", "Till lost in blowing trees and tops of towers;", "And out by this main doorway past the King.", "But one was counter to the hearth, and rose", "High that the highest-crested helm could ride", "Therethrough nor graze: and by this entry fled", "The damsel in her wrath, and on to this", "Sir Gareth strode, and saw without the door", "King Arthur's gift, the worth of half a town,", "A warhorse of the best, and near it stood", "The two that out of north had followed him:", "This bare a maiden shield, a casque; that held", "The horse, the spear; whereat Sir Gareth loosed", "A cloak that dropt from collar-bone to heel,", "A cloth of roughest web, and cast it down,", "And from it like a fuel-smothered fire,", "That lookt half-dead, brake bright, and flashed as those", "Dull-coated things, that making slide apart", "Their dusk wing-cases, all beneath there burns", "A jewelled harness, ere they pass and fly.", "So Gareth ere he parted flashed in arms.", "Then as he donned the helm, and took the shield", "And mounted horse and graspt a spear, of grain", "Storm-strengthened on a windy site, and tipt", "With trenchant steel, around him slowly prest", "The people, while from out of kitchen came", "The thralls in throng, and seeing who had worked", "Lustier than any, and whom they could but love,", "Mounted in arms, threw up their caps and cried,", "'God bless the King, and all his fellowship!'", "And on through lanes of shouting Gareth rode", "Down the slope street, and past without the gate.", "", "So Gareth past with joy; but as the cur", "Pluckt from the cur he fights with, ere his cause", "Be cooled by fighting, follows, being named,", "His owner, but remembers all, and growls", "Remembering, so Sir Kay beside the door", "Muttered in scorn of Gareth whom he used", "To harry and hustle.", "", "'Bound upon a quest", "With horse and arms--the King hath past his time--", "My scullion knave! Thralls to your work again,", "For an your fire be low ye kindle mine!", "Will there be dawn in West and eve in East?", "Begone!--my knave!--belike and like enow", "Some old head-blow not heeded in his youth", "So shook his wits they wander in his prime--", "Crazed! How the villain lifted up his voice,", "Nor shamed to bawl himself a kitchen-knave.", "Tut: he was tame and meek enow with me,", "Till peacocked up with Lancelot's noticing.", "Well--I will after my loud knave, and learn", "Whether he know me for his master yet.", "Out of the smoke he came, and so my lance", "Hold, by God's grace, he shall into the mire--", "Thence, if the King awaken from his craze,", "Into the smoke again.'", "", "But Lancelot said,", "'Kay, wherefore wilt thou go against the King,", "For that did never he whereon ye rail,", "But ever meekly served the King in thee?", "Abide: take counsel; for this lad is great", "And lusty, and knowing both of lance and sword.'", "'Tut, tell not me,' said Kay, 'ye are overfine", "To mar stout knaves with foolish courtesies:'", "Then mounted, on through silent faces rode", "Down the slope city, and out beyond the gate.", "", "But by the field of tourney lingering yet", "Muttered the damsel, 'Wherefore did the King", "Scorn me? for, were Sir Lancelot lackt, at least", "He might have yielded to me one of those", "Who tilt for lady's love and glory here,", "Rather than--O sweet heaven! O fie upon him--", "His kitchen-knave.'", "", "To whom Sir Gareth drew", "(And there were none but few goodlier than he)", "Shining in arms, 'Damsel, the quest is mine.", "Lead, and I follow.' She thereat, as one", "That smells a foul-fleshed agaric in the holt,", "And deems it carrion of some woodland thing,", "Or shrew, or weasel, nipt her slender nose", "With petulant thumb and finger, shrilling, 'Hence!", "Avoid, thou smellest all of kitchen-grease.", "And look who comes behind,' for there was Kay.", "'Knowest thou not me? thy master? I am Kay.", "We lack thee by the hearth.'", "", "And Gareth to him,", "'Master no more! too well I know thee, ay--", "The most ungentle knight in Arthur's hall.'", "'Have at thee then,' said Kay: they shocked, and Kay", "Fell shoulder-slipt, and Gareth cried again,", "'Lead, and I follow,' and fast away she fled.", "", "But after sod and shingle ceased to fly", "Behind her, and the heart of her good horse", "Was nigh to burst with violence of the beat,", "Perforce she stayed, and overtaken spoke.", "", "'What doest thou, scullion, in my fellowship?", "Deem'st thou that I accept thee aught the more", "Or love thee better, that by some device", "Full cowardly, or by mere unhappiness,", "Thou hast overthrown and slain thy master--thou!--", "Dish-washer and broach-turner, loon!--to me", "Thou smellest all of kitchen as before.'", "", "'Damsel,' Sir Gareth answered gently, 'say", "Whate'er ye will, but whatsoe'er ye say,", "I leave not till I finish this fair quest,", "Or die therefore.'", "", "'Ay, wilt thou finish it?", "Sweet lord, how like a noble knight he talks!", "The listening rogue hath caught the manner of it.", "But, knave, anon thou shalt be met with, knave,", "And then by such a one that thou for all", "The kitchen brewis that was ever supt", "Shalt not once dare to look him in the face.'", "", "'I shall assay,' said Gareth with a smile", "That maddened her, and away she flashed again", "Down the long avenues of a boundless wood,", "And Gareth following was again beknaved.", "", "'Sir Kitchen-knave, I have missed the only way", "Where Arthur's men are set along the wood;", "The wood is nigh as full of thieves as leaves:", "If both be slain, I am rid of thee; but yet,", "Sir Scullion, canst thou use that spit of thine?", "Fight, an thou canst: I have missed the only way.'", "", "So till the dusk that followed evensong", "Rode on the two, reviler and reviled;", "Then after one long slope was mounted, saw,", "Bowl-shaped, through tops of many thousand pines", "A gloomy-gladed hollow slowly sink", "To westward--in the deeps whereof a mere,", "Round as the red eye of an Eagle-owl,", "Under the half-dead sunset glared; and shouts", "Ascended, and there brake a servingman", "Flying from out of the black wood, and crying,", "'They have bound my lord to cast him in the mere.'", "Then Gareth, 'Bound am I to right the wronged,", "But straitlier bound am I to bide with thee.'", "And when the damsel spake contemptuously,", "'Lead, and I follow,' Gareth cried again,", "'Follow, I lead!' so down among the pines", "He plunged; and there, blackshadowed nigh the mere,", "And mid-thigh-deep in bulrushes and reed,", "Saw six tall men haling a seventh along,", "A stone about his neck to drown him in it.", "Three with good blows he quieted, but three", "Fled through the pines; and Gareth loosed the stone", "From off his neck, then in the mere beside", "Tumbled it; oilily bubbled up the mere.", "Last, Gareth loosed his bonds and on free feet", "Set him, a stalwart Baron, Arthur's friend.", "", "'Well that ye came, or else these caitiff rogues", "Had wreaked themselves on me; good cause is theirs", "To hate me, for my wont hath ever been", "To catch my thief, and then like vermin here", "Drown him, and with a stone about his neck;", "And under this wan water many of them", "Lie rotting, but at night let go the stone,", "And rise, and flickering in a grimly light", "Dance on the mere. Good now, ye have saved a life", "Worth somewhat as the cleanser of this wood.", "And fain would I reward thee worshipfully.", "What guerdon will ye?'", "Gareth sharply spake,", "'None! for the deed's sake have I done the deed,", "In uttermost obedience to the King.", "But wilt thou yield this damsel harbourage?'", "", "Whereat the Baron saying, 'I well believe", "You be of Arthur's Table,' a light laugh", "Broke from Lynette, 'Ay, truly of a truth,", "And in a sort, being Arthur's kitchen-knave!--", "But deem not I accept thee aught the more,", "Scullion, for running sharply with thy spit", "Down on a rout of craven foresters.", "A thresher with his flail had scattered them.", "Nay--for thou smellest of the kitchen still.", "But an this lord will yield us harbourage,", "Well.'", "", "So she spake. A league beyond the wood,", "All in a full-fair manor and a rich,", "His towers where that day a feast had been", "Held in high hall, and many a viand left,", "And many a costly cate, received the three.", "And there they placed a peacock in his pride", "Before the damsel, and the Baron set", "Gareth beside her, but at once she rose.", "", "'Meseems, that here is much discourtesy,", "Setting this knave, Lord Baron, at my side.", "Hear me--this morn I stood in Arthur's hall,", "And prayed the King would grant me Lancelot", "To fight the brotherhood of Day and Night--", "The last a monster unsubduable", "Of any save of him for whom I called--", "Suddenly bawls this frontless kitchen-knave,", "\"The quest is mine; thy kitchen-knave am I,", "And mighty through thy meats and drinks am I.\"", "Then Arthur all at once gone mad replies,", "\"Go therefore,\" and so gives the quest to him--", "Him--here--a villain fitter to stick swine", "Than ride abroad redressing women's wrong,", "Or sit beside a noble gentlewoman.'", "", "Then half-ashamed and part-amazed, the lord", "Now looked at one and now at other, left", "The damsel by the peacock in his pride,", "And, seating Gareth at another board,", "Sat down beside him, ate and then began.", "", "'Friend, whether thou be kitchen-knave, or not,", "Or whether it be the maiden's fantasy,", "And whether she be mad, or else the King,", "Or both or neither, or thyself be mad,", "I ask not: but thou strikest a strong stroke,", "For strong thou art and goodly therewithal,", "And saver of my life; and therefore now,", "For here be mighty men to joust with, weigh", "Whether thou wilt not with thy damsel back", "To crave again Sir Lancelot of the King.", "Thy pardon; I but speak for thine avail,", "The saver of my life.'", "", "And Gareth said,", "'Full pardon, but I follow up the quest,", "Despite of Day and Night and Death and Hell.'", "", "So when, next morn, the lord whose life he saved", "Had, some brief space, conveyed them on their way", "And left them with God-speed, Sir Gareth spake,", "'Lead, and I follow.' Haughtily she replied.", "", "'I fly no more: I allow thee for an hour.", "Lion and stout have isled together, knave,", "In time of flood. Nay, furthermore, methinks", "Some ruth is mine for thee. Back wilt thou, fool?", "For hard by here is one will overthrow", "And slay thee: then will I to court again,", "And shame the King for only yielding me", "My champion from the ashes of his hearth.'", "", "To whom Sir Gareth answered courteously,", "'Say thou thy say, and I will do my deed.", "Allow me for mine hour, and thou wilt find", "My fortunes all as fair as hers who lay", "Among the ashes and wedded the King's son.'", "", "Then to the shore of one of those long loops", "Wherethrough the serpent river coiled, they came.", "Rough-thicketed were the banks and steep; the stream", "Full, narrow; this a bridge of single arc", "Took at a leap; and on the further side", "Arose a silk pavilion, gay with gold", "In streaks and rays, and all Lent-lily in hue,", "Save that the dome was purple, and above,", "Crimson, a slender banneret fluttering.", "And therebefore the lawless warrior paced", "Unarmed, and calling, 'Damsel, is this he,", "The champion thou hast brought from Arthur's hall?", "For whom we let thee pass.' 'Nay, nay,' she said,", "'Sir Morning-Star. The King in utter scorn", "Of thee and thy much folly hath sent thee here", "His kitchen-knave: and look thou to thyself:", "See that he fall not on thee suddenly,", "And slay thee unarmed: he is not knight but knave.'", "", "Then at his call, 'O daughters of the Dawn,", "And servants of the Morning-Star, approach,", "Arm me,' from out the silken curtain-folds", "Bare-footed and bare-headed three fair girls", "In gilt and rosy raiment came: their feet", "In dewy grasses glistened; and the hair", "All over glanced with dewdrop or with gem", "Like sparkles in the stone Avanturine.", "These armed him in blue arms, and gave a shield", "Blue also, and thereon the morning star.", "And Gareth silent gazed upon the knight,", "Who stood a moment, ere his horse was brought,", "Glorying; and in the stream beneath him, shone", "Immingled with Heaven's azure waveringly,", "The gay pavilion and the naked feet,", "His arms, the rosy raiment, and the star.", "", "Then she that watched him, 'Wherefore stare ye so?", "Thou shakest in thy fear: there yet is time:", "Flee down the valley before he get to horse.", "Who will cry shame? Thou art not knight but knave.'", "", "Said Gareth, 'Damsel, whether knave or knight,", "Far liefer had I fight a score of times", "Than hear thee so missay me and revile.", "Fair words were best for him who fights for thee;", "But truly foul are better, for they send", "That strength of anger through mine arms, I know", "That I shall overthrow him.'", "", "And he that bore", "The star, when mounted, cried from o'er the bridge,", "'A kitchen-knave, and sent in scorn of me!", "Such fight not I, but answer scorn with scorn.", "For this were shame to do him further wrong", "Than set him on his feet, and take his horse", "And arms, and so return him to the King.", "Come, therefore, leave thy lady lightly, knave.", "Avoid: for it beseemeth not a knave", "To ride with such a lady.'", "", "'Dog, thou liest.", "I spring from loftier lineage than thine own.'", "He spake; and all at fiery speed the two", "Shocked on the central bridge, and either spear", "Bent but not brake, and either knight at once,", "Hurled as a stone from out of a catapult", "Beyond his horse's crupper and the bridge,", "Fell, as if dead; but quickly rose and drew,", "And Gareth lashed so fiercely with his brand", "He drave his enemy backward down the bridge,", "The damsel crying, 'Well-stricken, kitchen-knave!'", "Till Gareth's shield was cloven; but one stroke", "Laid him that clove it grovelling on the ground.", "", "Then cried the fallen, 'Take not my life: I yield.'", "And Gareth, 'So this damsel ask it of me", "Good--I accord it easily as a grace.'", "She reddening, 'Insolent scullion: I of thee?", "I bound to thee for any favour asked!'", "'Then he shall die.' And Gareth there unlaced", "His helmet as to slay him, but she shrieked,", "'Be not so hardy, scullion, as to slay", "One nobler than thyself.' 'Damsel, thy charge", "Is an abounding pleasure to me. Knight,", "Thy life is thine at her command. Arise", "And quickly pass to Arthur's hall, and say", "His kitchen-knave hath sent thee. See thou crave", "His pardon for thy breaking of his laws.", "Myself, when I return, will plead for thee.", "Thy shield is mine--farewell; and, damsel, thou,", "Lead, and I follow.'", "", "And fast away she fled.", "Then when he came upon her, spake, 'Methought,", "Knave, when I watched thee striking on the bridge", "The savour of thy kitchen came upon me", "A little faintlier: but the wind hath changed:", "I scent it twenty-fold.' And then she sang,", "'\"O morning star\" (not that tall felon there", "Whom thou by sorcery or unhappiness", "Or some device, hast foully overthrown),", "\"O morning star that smilest in the blue,", "O star, my morning dream hath proven true,", "Smile sweetly, thou! my love hath smiled on me.\"", "", "'But thou begone, take counsel, and away,", "For hard by here is one that guards a ford--", "The second brother in their fool's parable--", "Will pay thee all thy wages, and to boot.", "Care not for shame: thou art not knight but knave.'", "", "To whom Sir Gareth answered, laughingly,", "'Parables? Hear a parable of the knave.", "When I was kitchen-knave among the rest", "Fierce was the hearth, and one of my co-mates", "Owned a rough dog, to whom he cast his coat,", "\"Guard it,\" and there was none to meddle with it.", "And such a coat art thou, and thee the King", "Gave me to guard, and such a dog am I,", "To worry, and not to flee--and--knight or knave--", "The knave that doth thee service as full knight", "Is all as good, meseems, as any knight", "Toward thy sister's freeing.'", "", "'Ay, Sir Knave!", "Ay, knave, because thou strikest as a knight,", "Being but knave, I hate thee all the more.'", "", "'Fair damsel, you should worship me the more,", "That, being but knave, I throw thine enemies.'", "", "'Ay, ay,' she said, 'but thou shalt meet thy match.'", "", "So when they touched the second river-loop,", "Huge on a huge red horse, and all in mail", "Burnished to blinding, shone the Noonday Sun", "Beyond a raging shallow. As if the flower,", "That blows a globe of after arrowlets,", "Ten thousand-fold had grown, flashed the fierce shield,", "All sun; and Gareth's eyes had flying blots", "Before them when he turned from watching him.", "He from beyond the roaring shallow roared,", "'What doest thou, brother, in my marches here?'", "And she athwart the shallow shrilled again,", "'Here is a kitchen-knave from Arthur's hall", "Hath overthrown thy brother, and hath his arms.'", "'Ugh!' cried the Sun, and vizoring up a red", "And cipher face of rounded foolishness,", "Pushed horse across the foamings of the ford,", "Whom Gareth met midstream: no room was there", "For lance or tourney-skill: four strokes they struck", "With sword, and these were mighty; the new knight", "Had fear he might be shamed; but as the Sun", "Heaved up a ponderous arm to strike the fifth,", "The hoof of his horse slipt in the stream, the stream", "Descended, and the Sun was washed away.", "", "Then Gareth laid his lance athwart the ford;", "So drew him home; but he that fought no more,", "As being all bone-battered on the rock,", "Yielded; and Gareth sent him to the King,", "'Myself when I return will plead for thee.'", "'Lead, and I follow.' Quietly she led.", "'Hath not the good wind, damsel, changed again?'", "'Nay, not a point: nor art thou victor here.", "There lies a ridge of slate across the ford;", "His horse thereon stumbled--ay, for I saw it.", "", "'\"O Sun\" (not this strong fool whom thou, Sir Knave,", "Hast overthrown through mere unhappiness),", "\"O Sun, that wakenest all to bliss or pain,", "O moon, that layest all to sleep again,", "Shine sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.\"", "", "What knowest thou of lovesong or of love?", "Nay, nay, God wot, so thou wert nobly born,", "Thou hast a pleasant presence. Yea, perchance,--", "", "'\"O dewy flowers that open to the sun,", "O dewy flowers that close when day is done,", "Blow sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.\"", "", "'What knowest thou of flowers, except, belike,", "To garnish meats with? hath not our good King", "Who lent me thee, the flower of kitchendom,", "A foolish love for flowers? what stick ye round", "The pasty? wherewithal deck the boar's head?", "Flowers? nay, the boar hath rosemaries and bay.", "", "'\"O birds, that warble to the morning sky,", "O birds that warble as the day goes by,", "Sing sweetly: twice my love hath smiled on me.\"", "", "'What knowest thou of birds, lark, mavis, merle,", "Linnet? what dream ye when they utter forth", "May-music growing with the growing light,", "Their sweet sun-worship? these be for the snare", "(So runs thy fancy) these be for the spit,", "Larding and basting. See thou have not now", "Larded thy last, except thou turn and fly.", "There stands the third fool of their allegory.'", "", "For there beyond a bridge of treble bow,", "All in a rose-red from the west, and all", "Naked it seemed, and glowing in the broad", "Deep-dimpled current underneath, the knight,", "That named himself the Star of Evening, stood.", "", "And Gareth, 'Wherefore waits the madman there", "Naked in open dayshine?' 'Nay,' she cried,", "'Not naked, only wrapt in hardened skins", "That fit him like his own; and so ye cleave", "His armour off him, these will turn the blade.'", "", "Then the third brother shouted o'er the bridge,", "'O brother-star, why shine ye here so low?", "Thy ward is higher up: but have ye slain", "The damsel's champion?' and the damsel cried,", "", "'No star of thine, but shot from Arthur's heaven", "With all disaster unto thine and thee!", "For both thy younger brethren have gone down", "Before this youth; and so wilt thou, Sir Star;", "Art thou not old?'", "'Old, damsel, old and hard,", "Old, with the might and breath of twenty boys.'", "Said Gareth, 'Old, and over-bold in brag!", "But that same strength which threw the Morning Star", "Can throw the Evening.'", "", "Then that other blew", "A hard and deadly note upon the horn.", "'Approach and arm me!' With slow steps from out", "An old storm-beaten, russet, many-stained", "Pavilion, forth a grizzled damsel came,", "And armed him in old arms, and brought a helm", "With but a drying evergreen for crest,", "And gave a shield whereon the Star of Even", "Half-tarnished and half-bright, his emblem, shone.", "But when it glittered o'er the saddle-bow,", "They madly hurled together on the bridge;", "And Gareth overthrew him, lighted, drew,", "There met him drawn, and overthrew him again,", "But up like fire he started: and as oft", "As Gareth brought him grovelling on his knees,", "So many a time he vaulted up again;", "Till Gareth panted hard, and his great heart,", "Foredooming all his trouble was in vain,", "Laboured within him, for he seemed as one", "That all in later, sadder age begins", "To war against ill uses of a life,", "But these from all his life arise, and cry,", "'Thou hast made us lords, and canst not put us down!'", "He half despairs; so Gareth seemed to strike", "Vainly, the damsel clamouring all the while,", "'Well done, knave-knight, well-stricken, O good knight-knave--", "O knave, as noble as any of all the knights--", "Shame me not, shame me not. I have prophesied--", "Strike, thou art worthy of the Table Round--", "His arms are old, he trusts the hardened skin--", "Strike--strike--the wind will never change again.'", "And Gareth hearing ever stronglier smote,", "And hewed great pieces of his armour off him,", "But lashed in vain against the hardened skin,", "And could not wholly bring him under, more", "Than loud Southwesterns, rolling ridge on ridge,", "The buoy that rides at sea, and dips and springs", "For ever; till at length Sir Gareth's brand", "Clashed his, and brake it utterly to the hilt.", "'I have thee now;' but forth that other sprang,", "And, all unknightlike, writhed his wiry arms", "Around him, till he felt, despite his mail,", "Strangled, but straining even his uttermost", "Cast, and so hurled him headlong o'er the bridge", "Down to the river, sink or swim, and cried,", "'Lead, and I follow.'", "", "But the damsel said,", "'I lead no longer; ride thou at my side;", "Thou art the kingliest of all kitchen-knaves.", "", "'\"O trefoil, sparkling on the rainy plain,", "O rainbow with three colours after rain,", "Shine sweetly: thrice my love hath smiled on me.\"", "", "'Sir,--and, good faith, I fain had added--Knight,", "But that I heard thee call thyself a knave,--", "Shamed am I that I so rebuked, reviled,", "Missaid thee; noble I am; and thought the King", "Scorned me and mine; and now thy pardon, friend,", "For thou hast ever answered courteously,", "And wholly bold thou art, and meek withal", "As any of Arthur's best, but, being knave,", "Hast mazed my wit: I marvel what thou art.'", "", "'Damsel,' he said, 'you be not all to blame,", "Saving that you mistrusted our good King", "Would handle scorn, or yield you, asking, one", "Not fit to cope your quest. You said your say;", "Mine answer was my deed. Good sooth! I hold", "He scarce is knight, yea but half-man, nor meet", "To fight for gentle damsel, he, who lets", "His heart be stirred with any foolish heat", "At any gentle damsel's waywardness.", "Shamed? care not! thy foul sayings fought for me:", "And seeing now thy words are fair, methinks", "There rides no knight, not Lancelot, his great self,", "Hath force to quell me.'", "Nigh upon that hour", "When the lone hern forgets his melancholy,", "Lets down his other leg, and stretching, dreams", "Of goodly supper in the distant pool,", "Then turned the noble damsel smiling at him,", "And told him of a cavern hard at hand,", "Where bread and baken meats and good red wine", "Of Southland, which the Lady Lyonors", "Had sent her coming champion, waited him.", "", "Anon they past a narrow comb wherein", "Where slabs of rock with figures, knights on horse", "Sculptured, and deckt in slowly-waning hues.", "'Sir Knave, my knight, a hermit once was here,", "Whose holy hand hath fashioned on the rock", "The war of Time against the soul of man.", "And yon four fools have sucked their allegory", "From these damp walls, and taken but the form.", "Know ye not these?' and Gareth lookt and read--", "In letters like to those the vexillary", "Hath left crag-carven o'er the streaming Gelt--", "'PHOSPHORUS,' then 'MERIDIES'--'HESPERUS'--", "'NOX'--'MORS,' beneath five figures, armd men,", "Slab after slab, their faces forward all,", "And running down the Soul, a Shape that fled", "With broken wings, torn raiment and loose hair,", "For help and shelter to the hermit's cave.", "'Follow the faces, and we find it. Look,", "Who comes behind?'", "", "For one--delayed at first", "Through helping back the dislocated Kay", "To Camelot, then by what thereafter chanced,", "The damsel's headlong error through the wood--", "Sir Lancelot, having swum the river-loops--", "His blue shield-lions covered--softly drew", "Behind the twain, and when he saw the star", "Gleam, on Sir Gareth's turning to him, cried,", "'Stay, felon knight, I avenge me for my friend.'", "And Gareth crying pricked against the cry;", "But when they closed--in a moment--at one touch", "Of that skilled spear, the wonder of the world--", "Went sliding down so easily, and fell,", "That when he found the grass within his hands", "He laughed; the laughter jarred upon Lynette:", "Harshly she asked him, 'Shamed and overthrown,", "And tumbled back into the kitchen-knave,", "Why laugh ye? that ye blew your boast in vain?'", "'Nay, noble damsel, but that I, the son", "Of old King Lot and good Queen Bellicent,", "And victor of the bridges and the ford,", "And knight of Arthur, here lie thrown by whom", "I know not, all through mere unhappiness--", "Device and sorcery and unhappiness--", "Out, sword; we are thrown!' And Lancelot answered, 'Prince,", "O Gareth--through the mere unhappiness", "Of one who came to help thee, not to harm,", "Lancelot, and all as glad to find thee whole,", "As on the day when Arthur knighted him.'", "", "Then Gareth, 'Thou--Lancelot!--thine the hand", "That threw me? An some chance to mar the boast", "Thy brethren of thee make--which could not chance--", "Had sent thee down before a lesser spear,", "Shamed had I been, and sad--O Lancelot--thou!'", "", "Whereat the maiden, petulant, 'Lancelot,", "Why came ye not, when called? and wherefore now", "Come ye, not called? I gloried in my knave,", "Who being still rebuked, would answer still", "Courteous as any knight--but now, if knight,", "The marvel dies, and leaves me fooled and tricked,", "And only wondering wherefore played upon:", "And doubtful whether I and mine be scorned.", "Where should be truth if not in Arthur's hall,", "In Arthur's presence? Knight, knave, prince and fool,", "I hate thee and for ever.'", "", "And Lancelot said,", "'Blessd be thou, Sir Gareth! knight art thou", "To the King's best wish. O damsel, be you wise", "To call him shamed, who is but overthrown?", "Thrown have I been, nor once, but many a time.", "Victor from vanquished issues at the last,", "And overthrower from being overthrown.", "With sword we have not striven; and thy good horse", "And thou are weary; yet not less I felt", "Thy manhood through that wearied lance of thine.", "Well hast thou done; for all the stream is freed,", "And thou hast wreaked his justice on his foes,", "And when reviled, hast answered graciously,", "And makest merry when overthrown. Prince, Knight", "Hail, Knight and Prince, and of our Table Round!'", "", "And then when turning to Lynette he told", "The tale of Gareth, petulantly she said,", "'Ay well--ay well--for worse than being fooled", "Of others, is to fool one's self. A cave,", "Sir Lancelot, is hard by, with meats and drinks", "And forage for the horse, and flint for fire.", "But all about it flies a honeysuckle.", "Seek, till we find.' And when they sought and found,", "Sir Gareth drank and ate, and all his life", "Past into sleep; on whom the maiden gazed.", "'Sound sleep be thine! sound cause to sleep hast thou.", "Wake lusty! Seem I not as tender to him", "As any mother? Ay, but such a one", "As all day long hath rated at her child,", "And vext his day, but blesses him asleep--", "Good lord, how sweetly smells the honeysuckle", "In the hushed night, as if the world were one", "Of utter peace, and love, and gentleness!", "O Lancelot, Lancelot'--and she clapt her hands--", "'Full merry am I to find my goodly knave", "Is knight and noble. See now, sworn have I,", "Else yon black felon had not let me pass,", "To bring thee back to do the battle with him.", "Thus an thou goest, he will fight thee first;", "Who doubts thee victor? so will my knight-knave", "Miss the full flower of this accomplishment.'", "", "Said Lancelot, 'Peradventure he, you name,", "May know my shield. Let Gareth, an he will,", "Change his for mine, and take my charger, fresh,", "Not to be spurred, loving the battle as well", "As he that rides him.' 'Lancelot-like,' she said,", "'Courteous in this, Lord Lancelot, as in all.'", "", "And Gareth, wakening, fiercely clutched the shield;", "'Ramp ye lance-splintering lions, on whom all spears", "Are rotten sticks! ye seem agape to roar!", "Yea, ramp and roar at leaving of your lord!--", "Care not, good beasts, so well I care for you.", "O noble Lancelot, from my hold on these", "Streams virtue--fire--through one that will not shame", "Even the shadow of Lancelot under shield.", "Hence: let us go.'", "", "Silent the silent field", "They traversed. Arthur's harp though summer-wan,", "In counter motion to the clouds, allured", "The glance of Gareth dreaming on his liege.", "A star shot: 'Lo,' said Gareth, 'the foe falls!'", "An owl whoopt: 'Hark the victor pealing there!'", "Suddenly she that rode upon his left", "Clung to the shield that Lancelot lent him, crying,", "'Yield, yield him this again: 'tis he must fight:", "I curse the tongue that all through yesterday", "Reviled thee, and hath wrought on Lancelot now", "To lend thee horse and shield: wonders ye have done;", "Miracles ye cannot: here is glory enow", "In having flung the three: I see thee maimed,", "Mangled: I swear thou canst not fling the fourth.'", "", "'And wherefore, damsel? tell me all ye know.", "You cannot scare me; nor rough face, or voice,", "Brute bulk of limb, or boundless savagery", "Appal me from the quest.'", "", "'Nay, Prince,' she cried,", "'God wot, I never looked upon the face,", "Seeing he never rides abroad by day;", "But watched him have I like a phantom pass", "Chilling the night: nor have I heard the voice.", "Always he made his mouthpiece of a page", "Who came and went, and still reported him", "As closing in himself the strength of ten,", "And when his anger tare him, massacring", "Man, woman, lad and girl--yea, the soft babe!", "Some hold that he hath swallowed infant flesh,", "Monster! O Prince, I went for Lancelot first,", "The quest is Lancelot's: give him back the shield.'", "", "Said Gareth laughing, 'An he fight for this,", "Belike he wins it as the better man:", "Thus--and not else!'", "", "But Lancelot on him urged", "All the devisings of their chivalry", "When one might meet a mightier than himself;", "How best to manage horse, lance, sword and shield,", "And so fill up the gap where force might fail", "With skill and fineness. Instant were his words.", "", "Then Gareth, 'Here be rules. I know but one--", "To dash against mine enemy and win.", "Yet have I seen thee victor in the joust,", "And seen thy way.' 'Heaven help thee,' sighed Lynette.", "", "Then for a space, and under cloud that grew", "To thunder-gloom palling all stars, they rode", "In converse till she made her palfrey halt,", "Lifted an arm, and softly whispered, 'There.'", "And all the three were silent seeing, pitched", "Beside the Castle Perilous on flat field,", "A huge pavilion like a mountain peak", "Sunder the glooming crimson on the marge,", "Black, with black banner, and a long black horn", "Beside it hanging; which Sir Gareth graspt,", "And so, before the two could hinder him,", "Sent all his heart and breath through all the horn.", "Echoed the walls; a light twinkled; anon", "Came lights and lights, and once again he blew;", "Whereon were hollow tramplings up and down", "And muffled voices heard, and shadows past;", "Till high above him, circled with her maids,", "The Lady Lyonors at a window stood,", "Beautiful among lights, and waving to him", "White hands, and courtesy; but when the Prince", "Three times had blown--after long hush--at last--", "The huge pavilion slowly yielded up,", "Through those black foldings, that which housed therein.", "High on a nightblack horse, in nightblack arms,", "With white breast-bone, and barren ribs of Death,", "And crowned with fleshless laughter--some ten steps--", "In the half-light--through the dim dawn--advanced", "The monster, and then paused, and spake no word.", "", "But Gareth spake and all indignantly,", "'Fool, for thou hast, men say, the strength of ten,", "Canst thou not trust the limbs thy God hath given,", "But must, to make the terror of thee more,", "Trick thyself out in ghastly imageries", "Of that which Life hath done with, and the clod,", "Less dull than thou, will hide with mantling flowers", "As if for pity?' But he spake no word;", "Which set the horror higher: a maiden swooned;", "The Lady Lyonors wrung her hands and wept,", "As doomed to be the bride of Night and Death;", "Sir Gareth's head prickled beneath his helm;", "And even Sir Lancelot through his warm blood felt", "Ice strike, and all that marked him were aghast.", "", "At once Sir Lancelot's charger fiercely neighed,", "And Death's dark war-horse bounded forward with him.", "Then those that did not blink the terror, saw", "That Death was cast to ground, and slowly rose.", "But with one stroke Sir Gareth split the skull.", "Half fell to right and half to left and lay.", "Then with a stronger buffet he clove the helm", "As throughly as the skull; and out from this", "Issued the bright face of a blooming boy", "Fresh as a flower new-born, and crying, 'Knight,", "Slay me not: my three brethren bad me do it,", "To make a horror all about the house,", "And stay the world from Lady Lyonors.", "They never dreamed the passes would be past.'", "Answered Sir Gareth graciously to one", "Not many a moon his younger, 'My fair child,", "What madness made thee challenge the chief knight", "Of Arthur's hall?' 'Fair Sir, they bad me do it.", "They hate the King, and Lancelot, the King's friend,", "They hoped to slay him somewhere on the stream,", "They never dreamed the passes could be past.'", "", "Then sprang the happier day from underground;", "And Lady Lyonors and her house, with dance", "And revel and song, made merry over Death,", "As being after all their foolish fears", "And horrors only proven a blooming boy.", "So large mirth lived and Gareth won the quest.", "", "And he that told the tale in older times", "Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors,", "But he, that told it later, says Lynette." ], "linecount": "1430" }, { "title": "Balin and Balan", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "Pellam the King, who held and lost with Lot", "In that first war, and had his realm restored", "But rendered tributary, failed of late", "To send his tribute; wherefore Arthur called", "His treasurer, one of many years, and spake,", "'Go thou with him and him and bring it to us,", "Lest we should set one truer on his throne.", "Man's word is God in man.'", "His Baron said", "'We go but harken: there be two strange knights", "", "Who sit near Camelot at a fountain-side,", "A mile beneath the forest, challenging", "And overthrowing every knight who comes.", "Wilt thou I undertake them as we pass,", "And send them to thee?'", "Arthur laughed upon him.", "'Old friend, too old to be so young, depart,", "Delay not thou for aught, but let them sit,", "Until they find a lustier than themselves.'", "", "So these departed. Early, one fair dawn,", "The light-winged spirit of his youth returned", "On Arthur's heart; he armed himself and went,", "So coming to the fountain-side beheld", "Balin and Balan sitting statuelike,", "Brethren, to right and left the spring, that down,", "From underneath a plume of lady-fern,", "Sang, and the sand danced at the bottom of it.", "And on the right of Balin Balin's horse", "Was fast beside an alder, on the left", "Of Balan Balan's near a poplartree.", "'Fair Sirs,' said Arthur, 'wherefore sit ye here?'", "Balin and Balan answered 'For the sake", "Of glory; we be mightier men than all", "In Arthur's court; that also have we proved;", "For whatsoever knight against us came", "Or I or he have easily overthrown.'", "'I too,' said Arthur, 'am of Arthur's hall,", "But rather proven in his Paynim wars", "Than famous jousts; but see, or proven or not,", "Whether me likewise ye can overthrow.'", "And Arthur lightly smote the brethren down,", "And lightly so returned, and no man knew.", "", "Then Balin rose, and Balan, and beside", "The carolling water set themselves again,", "And spake no word until the shadow turned;", "When from the fringe of coppice round them burst", "A spangled pursuivant, and crying 'Sirs,", "Rise, follow! ye be sent for by the King,'", "They followed; whom when Arthur seeing asked", "'Tell me your names; why sat ye by the well?'", "Balin the stillness of a minute broke", "Saying 'An unmelodious name to thee,", "Balin, \"the Savage\"--that addition thine--", "My brother and my better, this man here,", "Balan. I smote upon the naked skull", "A thrall of thine in open hall, my hand", "Was gauntleted, half slew him; for I heard", "He had spoken evil of me; thy just wrath", "Sent me a three-years' exile from thine eyes.", "I have not lived my life delightsomely:", "For I that did that violence to thy thrall,", "Had often wrought some fury on myself,", "Saving for Balan: those three kingless years", "Have past--were wormwood-bitter to me. King,", "Methought that if we sat beside the well,", "And hurled to ground what knight soever spurred", "Against us, thou would'st take me gladlier back,", "And make, as ten-times worthier to be thine", "Than twenty Balins, Balan knight. I have said.", "Not so--not all. A man of thine today", "Abashed us both, and brake my boast. Thy will?'", "Said Arthur 'Thou hast ever spoken truth;", "Thy too fierce manhood would not let thee lie.", "Rise, my true knight. As children learn, be thou", "Wiser for falling! walk with me, and move", "To music with thine Order and the King.", "Thy chair, a grief to all the brethren, stands", "Vacant, but thou retake it, mine again!'", "", "Thereafter, when Sir Balin entered hall,", "The Lost one Found was greeted as in Heaven", "With joy that blazed itself in woodland wealth", "Of leaf, and gayest garlandage of flowers,", "Along the walls and down the board; they sat,", "And cup clashed cup; they drank and some one sang,", "Sweet-voiced, a song of welcome, whereupon", "Their common shout in chorus, mounting, made", "Those banners of twelve battles overhead", "Stir, as they stirred of old, when Arthur's host", "Proclaimed him Victor, and the day was won.", "", "Then Balan added to their Order lived", "A wealthier life than heretofore with these", "And Balin, till their embassage returned.", "", "'Sir King' they brought report 'we hardly found,", "So bushed about it is with gloom, the hall", "Of him to whom ye sent us, Pellam, once", "A Christless foe of thine as ever dashed", "Horse against horse; but seeing that thy realm", "Hath prospered in the name of Christ, the King", "Took, as in rival heat, to holy things;", "And finds himself descended from the Saint", "Arimathan Joseph; him who first", "Brought the great faith to Britain over seas;", "He boasts his life as purer than thine own;", "Eats scarce enow to keep his pulse abeat;", "Hath pushed aside his faithful wife, nor lets", "Or dame or damsel enter at his gates", "Lest he should be polluted. This gray King", "Showed us a shrine wherein were wonders--yea--", "Rich arks with priceless bones of martyrdom,", "Thorns of the crown and shivers of the cross,", "And therewithal (for thus he told us) brought", "By holy Joseph thither, that same spear", "Wherewith the Roman pierced the side of Christ.", "He much amazed us; after, when we sought", "The tribute, answered \"I have quite foregone", "All matters of this world: Garlon, mine heir,", "Of him demand it,\" which this Garlon gave", "With much ado, railing at thine and thee.", "", "'But when we left, in those deep woods we found", "A knight of thine spear-stricken from behind,", "Dead, whom we buried; more than one of us", "Cried out on Garlon, but a woodman there", "Reported of some demon in the woods", "Was once a man, who driven by evil tongues", "From all his fellows, lived alone, and came", "To learn black magic, and to hate his kind", "With such a hate, that when he died, his soul", "Became a Fiend, which, as the man in life", "Was wounded by blind tongues he saw not whence,", "Strikes from behind. This woodman showed the cave", "From which he sallies, and wherein he dwelt.", "We saw the hoof-print of a horse, no more.'", "", "Then Arthur, 'Let who goes before me, see", "He do not fall behind me: foully slain", "And villainously! who will hunt for me", "This demon of the woods?' Said Balan, 'I'!", "So claimed the quest and rode away, but first,", "Embracing Balin, 'Good my brother, hear!", "Let not thy moods prevail, when I am gone", "Who used to lay them! hold them outer fiends,", "Who leap at thee to tear thee; shake them aside,", "Dreams ruling when wit sleeps! yea, but to dream", "That any of these would wrong thee, wrongs thyself.", "Witness their flowery welcome. Bound are they", "To speak no evil. Truly save for fears,", "My fears for thee, so rich a fellowship", "Would make me wholly blest: thou one of them,", "Be one indeed: consider them, and all", "Their bearing in their common bond of love,", "No more of hatred than in Heaven itself,", "No more of jealousy than in Paradise.'", "", "So Balan warned, and went; Balin remained:", "Who--for but three brief moons had glanced away", "From being knighted till he smote the thrall,", "And faded from the presence into years", "Of exile--now would strictlier set himself", "To learn what Arthur meant by courtesy,", "Manhood, and knighthood; wherefore hovered round", "Lancelot, but when he marked his high sweet smile", "In passing, and a transitory word", "Make knight or churl or child or damsel seem", "From being smiled at happier in themselves--", "Sighed, as a boy lame-born beneath a height,", "That glooms his valley, sighs to see the peak", "Sun-flushed, or touch at night the northern star;", "For one from out his village lately climed", "And brought report of azure lands and fair,", "Far seen to left and right; and he himself", "Hath hardly scaled with help a hundred feet", "Up from the base: so Balin marvelling oft", "How far beyond him Lancelot seemed to move,", "Groaned, and at times would mutter, 'These be gifts,", "Born with the blood, not learnable, divine,", "Beyond MY reach. Well had I foughten--well--", "In those fierce wars, struck hard--and had I crowned", "With my slain self the heaps of whom I slew--", "So--better!--But this worship of the Queen,", "That honour too wherein she holds him--this,", "This was the sunshine that hath given the man", "A growth, a name that branches o'er the rest,", "And strength against all odds, and what the King", "So prizes--overprizes--gentleness.", "Her likewise would I worship an I might.", "I never can be close with her, as he", "That brought her hither. Shall I pray the King", "To let me bear some token of his Queen", "Whereon to gaze, remembering her--forget", "My heats and violences? live afresh?", "What, if the Queen disdained to grant it! nay", "Being so stately-gentle, would she make", "My darkness blackness? and with how sweet grace", "She greeted my return! Bold will I be--", "Some goodly cognizance of Guinevere,", "In lieu of this rough beast upon my shield,", "Langued gules, and toothed with grinning savagery.'", "", "And Arthur, when Sir Balin sought him, said", "'What wilt thou bear?' Balin was bold, and asked", "To bear her own crown-royal upon shield,", "Whereat she smiled and turned her to the King,", "Who answered 'Thou shalt put the crown to use.", "The crown is but the shadow of the King,", "And this a shadow's shadow, let him have it,", "So this will help him of his violences!'", "'No shadow' said Sir Balin 'O my Queen,", "But light to me! no shadow, O my King,", "But golden earnest of a gentler life!'", "", "So Balin bare the crown, and all the knights", "Approved him, and the Queen, and all the world", "Made music, and he felt his being move", "In music with his Order, and the King.", "", "The nightingale, full-toned in middle May,", "Hath ever and anon a note so thin", "It seems another voice in other groves;", "Thus, after some quick burst of sudden wrath,", "The music in him seemed to change, and grow", "Faint and far-off.", "And once he saw the thrall", "His passion half had gauntleted to death,", "That causer of his banishment and shame,", "Smile at him, as he deemed, presumptuously:", "His arm half rose to strike again, but fell:", "The memory of that cognizance on shield", "Weighted it down, but in himself he moaned:", "", "'Too high this mount of Camelot for me:", "These high-set courtesies are not for me.", "Shall I not rather prove the worse for these?", "Fierier and stormier from restraining, break", "Into some madness even before the Queen?'", "", "Thus, as a hearth lit in a mountain home,", "And glancing on the window, when the gloom", "Of twilight deepens round it, seems a flame", "That rages in the woodland far below,", "So when his moods were darkened, court and King", "And all the kindly warmth of Arthur's hall", "Shadowed an angry distance: yet he strove", "To learn the graces of their Table, fought", "Hard with himself, and seemed at length in peace.", "", "Then chanced, one morning, that Sir Balin sat", "Close-bowered in that garden nigh the hall.", "A walk of roses ran from door to door;", "A walk of lilies crost it to the bower:", "And down that range of roses the great Queen", "Came with slow steps, the morning on her face;", "And all in shadow from the counter door", "Sir Lancelot as to meet her, then at once,", "As if he saw not, glanced aside, and paced", "The long white walk of lilies toward the bower.", "Followed the Queen; Sir Balin heard her 'Prince,", "Art thou so little loyal to thy Queen,", "As pass without good morrow to thy Queen?'", "To whom Sir Lancelot with his eyes on earth,", "'Fain would I still be loyal to the Queen.'", "'Yea so' she said 'but so to pass me by--", "So loyal scarce is loyal to thyself,", "Whom all men rate the king of courtesy.", "Let be: ye stand, fair lord, as in a dream.'", "", "Then Lancelot with his hand among the flowers", "'Yea--for a dream. Last night methought I saw", "That maiden Saint who stands with lily in hand", "In yonder shrine. All round her prest the dark,", "And all the light upon her silver face", "Flowed from the spiritual lily that she held.", "Lo! these her emblems drew mine eyes--away:", "For see, how perfect-pure! As light a flush", "As hardly tints the blossom of the quince", "Would mar their charm of stainless maidenhood.'", "", "'Sweeter to me' she said 'this garden rose", "Deep-hued and many-folded! sweeter still", "The wild-wood hyacinth and the bloom of May.", "Prince, we have ridden before among the flowers", "In those fair days--not all as cool as these,", "Though season-earlier. Art thou sad? or sick?", "Our noble King will send thee his own leech--", "Sick? or for any matter angered at me?'", "", "Then Lancelot lifted his large eyes; they dwelt", "Deep-tranced on hers, and could not fall: her hue", "Changed at his gaze: so turning side by side", "They past, and Balin started from his bower.", "", "'Queen? subject? but I see not what I see.", "Damsel and lover? hear not what I hear.", "My father hath begotten me in his wrath.", "I suffer from the things before me, know,", "Learn nothing; am not worthy to be knight;", "A churl, a clown!' and in him gloom on gloom", "Deepened: he sharply caught his lance and shield,", "Nor stayed to crave permission of the King,", "But, mad for strange adventure, dashed away.", "", "He took the selfsame track as Balan, saw", "The fountain where they sat together, sighed", "'Was I not better there with him?' and rode", "The skyless woods, but under open blue", "Came on the hoarhead woodman at a bough", "Wearily hewing. 'Churl, thine axe!' he cried,", "Descended, and disjointed it at a blow:", "To whom the woodman uttered wonderingly", "'Lord, thou couldst lay the Devil of these woods", "If arm of flesh could lay him.' Balin cried", "'Him, or the viler devil who plays his part,", "To lay that devil would lay the Devil in me.'", "'Nay' said the churl, 'our devil is a truth,", "I saw the flash of him but yestereven.", "And some DO say that our Sir Garlon too", "Hath learned black magic, and to ride unseen.", "Look to the cave.' But Balin answered him", "'Old fabler, these be fancies of the churl,", "Look to thy woodcraft,' and so leaving him,", "Now with slack rein and careless of himself,", "Now with dug spur and raving at himself,", "Now with droopt brow down the long glades he rode;", "So marked not on his right a cavern-chasm", "Yawn over darkness, where, nor far within,", "The whole day died, but, dying, gleamed on rocks", "Roof-pendent, sharp; and others from the floor,", "Tusklike, arising, made that mouth of night", "Whereout the Demon issued up from Hell.", "He marked not this, but blind and deaf to all", "Save that chained rage, which ever yelpt within,", "Past eastward from the falling sun. At once", "He felt the hollow-beaten mosses thud", "And tremble, and then the shadow of a spear,", "Shot from behind him, ran along the ground.", "Sideways he started from the path, and saw,", "With pointed lance as if to pierce, a shape,", "A light of armour by him flash, and pass", "And vanish in the woods; and followed this,", "But all so blind in rage that unawares", "He burst his lance against a forest bough,", "Dishorsed himself, and rose again, and fled", "Far, till the castle of a King, the hall", "Of Pellam, lichen-bearded, grayly draped", "With streaming grass, appeared, low-built but strong;", "The ruinous donjon as a knoll of moss,", "The battlement overtopt with ivytods,", "A home of bats, in every tower an owl.", "Then spake the men of Pellam crying 'Lord,", "Why wear ye this crown-royal upon shield?'", "Said Balin 'For the fairest and the best", "Of ladies living gave me this to bear.'", "So stalled his horse, and strode across the court,", "But found the greetings both of knight and King", "Faint in the low dark hall of banquet: leaves", "Laid their green faces flat against the panes,", "Sprays grated, and the cankered boughs without", "Whined in the wood; for all was hushed within,", "Till when at feast Sir Garlon likewise asked", "'Why wear ye that crown-royal?' Balin said", "'The Queen we worship, Lancelot, I, and all,", "As fairest, best and purest, granted me", "To bear it!' Such a sound (for Arthur's knights", "Were hated strangers in the hall) as makes", "The white swan-mother, sitting, when she hears", "A strange knee rustle through her secret reeds,", "Made Garlon, hissing; then he sourly smiled.", "'Fairest I grant her: I have seen; but best,", "Best, purest? THOU from Arthur's hall, and yet", "So simple! hast thou eyes, or if, are these", "So far besotted that they fail to see", "This fair wife-worship cloaks a secret shame?", "Truly, ye men of Arthur be but babes.'", "", "A goblet on the board by Balin, bossed", "With holy Joseph's legend, on his right", "Stood, all of massiest bronze: one side had sea", "And ship and sail and angels blowing on it:", "And one was rough with wattling, and the walls", "Of that low church he built at Glastonbury.", "This Balin graspt, but while in act to hurl,", "Through memory of that token on the shield", "Relaxed his hold: 'I will be gentle' he thought", "'And passing gentle' caught his hand away,", "Then fiercely to Sir Garlon 'Eyes have I", "That saw today the shadow of a spear,", "Shot from behind me, run along the ground;", "Eyes too that long have watched how Lancelot draws", "From homage to the best and purest, might,", "Name, manhood, and a grace, but scantly thine,", "Who, sitting in thine own hall, canst endure", "To mouth so huge a foulness--to thy guest,", "Me, me of Arthur's Table. Felon talk!", "Let be! no more!'", "But not the less by night", "The scorn of Garlon, poisoning all his rest,", "Stung him in dreams. At length, and dim through leaves", "Blinkt the white morn, sprays grated, and old boughs", "Whined in the wood. He rose, descended, met", "The scorner in the castle court, and fain,", "For hate and loathing, would have past him by;", "But when Sir Garlon uttered mocking-wise;", "'What, wear ye still that same crown-scandalous?'", "His countenance blackened, and his forehead veins", "Bloated, and branched; and tearing out of sheath", "The brand, Sir Balin with a fiery 'Ha!", "So thou be shadow, here I make thee ghost,'", "Hard upon helm smote him, and the blade flew", "Splintering in six, and clinkt upon the stones.", "Then Garlon, reeling slowly backward, fell,", "And Balin by the banneret of his helm", "Dragged him, and struck, but from the castle a cry", "Sounded across the court, and--men-at-arms,", "A score with pointed lances, making at him--", "He dashed the pummel at the foremost face,", "Beneath a low door dipt, and made his feet", "Wings through a glimmering gallery, till he marked", "The portal of King Pellam's chapel wide", "And inward to the wall; he stept behind;", "Thence in a moment heard them pass like wolves", "Howling; but while he stared about the shrine,", "In which he scarce could spy the Christ for Saints,", "Beheld before a golden altar lie", "The longest lance his eyes had ever seen,", "Point-painted red; and seizing thereupon", "Pushed through an open casement down, leaned on it,", "Leapt in a semicircle, and lit on earth;", "Then hand at ear, and harkening from what side", "The blindfold rummage buried in the walls", "Might echo, ran the counter path, and found", "His charger, mounted on him and away.", "An arrow whizzed to the right, one to the left,", "One overhead; and Pellam's feeble cry", "'Stay, stay him! he defileth heavenly things", "With earthly uses'--made him quickly dive", "Beneath the boughs, and race through many a mile", "Of dense and open, till his goodly horse,", "Arising wearily at a fallen oak,", "Stumbled headlong, and cast him face to ground.", "", "Half-wroth he had not ended, but all glad,", "Knightlike, to find his charger yet unlamed,", "Sir Balin drew the shield from off his neck,", "Stared at the priceless cognizance, and thought", "'I have shamed thee so that now thou shamest me,", "Thee will I bear no more,' high on a branch", "Hung it, and turned aside into the woods,", "And there in gloom cast himself all along,", "Moaning 'My violences, my violences!'", "", "But now the wholesome music of the wood", "Was dumbed by one from out the hall of Mark,", "A damsel-errant, warbling, as she rode", "The woodland alleys, Vivien, with her Squire.", "", "'The fire of Heaven has killed the barren cold,", "And kindled all the plain and all the wold.", "The new leaf ever pushes off the old.", "The fire of Heaven is not the flame of Hell.", "", "'Old priest, who mumble worship in your quire--", "Old monk and nun, ye scorn the world's desire,", "Yet in your frosty cells ye feel the fire!", "The fire of Heaven is not the flame of Hell.", "", "'The fire of Heaven is on the dusty ways.", "The wayside blossoms open to the blaze.", "The whole wood-world is one full peal of praise.", "The fire of Heaven is not the flame of Hell.", "", "'The fire of Heaven is lord of all things good,", "And starve not thou this fire within thy blood,", "But follow Vivien through the fiery flood!", "The fire of Heaven is not the flame of Hell!'", "", "Then turning to her Squire 'This fire of Heaven,", "This old sun-worship, boy, will rise again,", "And beat the cross to earth, and break the King", "And all his Table.'", "Then they reached a glade,", "Where under one long lane of cloudless air", "Before another wood, the royal crown", "Sparkled, and swaying upon a restless elm", "Drew the vague glance of Vivien, and her Squire;", "Amazed were these; 'Lo there' she cried--'a crown--", "Borne by some high lord-prince of Arthur's hall,", "And there a horse! the rider? where is he?", "See, yonder lies one dead within the wood.", "Not dead; he stirs!--but sleeping. I will speak.", "Hail, royal knight, we break on thy sweet rest,", "Not, doubtless, all unearned by noble deeds.", "But bounden art thou, if from Arthur's hall,", "To help the weak. Behold, I fly from shame,", "A lustful King, who sought to win my love", "Through evil ways: the knight, with whom I rode,", "Hath suffered misadventure, and my squire", "Hath in him small defence; but thou, Sir Prince,", "Wilt surely guide me to the warrior King,", "Arthur the blameless, pure as any maid,", "To get me shelter for my maidenhood.", "I charge thee by that crown upon thy shield,", "And by the great Queen's name, arise and hence.'", "", "And Balin rose, 'Thither no more! nor Prince", "Nor knight am I, but one that hath defamed", "The cognizance she gave me: here I dwell", "Savage among the savage woods, here die--", "Die: let the wolves' black maws ensepulchre", "Their brother beast, whose anger was his lord.", "O me, that such a name as Guinevere's,", "Which our high Lancelot hath so lifted up,", "And been thereby uplifted, should through me,", "My violence, and my villainy, come to shame.'", "", "Thereat she suddenly laughed and shrill, anon", "Sighed all as suddenly. Said Balin to her", "'Is this thy courtesy--to mock me, ha?", "Hence, for I will not with thee.' Again she sighed", "'Pardon, sweet lord! we maidens often laugh", "When sick at heart, when rather we should weep.", "I knew thee wronged. I brake upon thy rest,", "And now full loth am I to break thy dream,", "But thou art man, and canst abide a truth,", "Though bitter. Hither, boy--and mark me well.", "Dost thou remember at Caerleon once--", "A year ago--nay, then I love thee not--", "Ay, thou rememberest well--one summer dawn--", "By the great tower--Caerleon upon Usk--", "Nay, truly we were hidden: this fair lord,", "The flower of all their vestal knighthood, knelt", "In amorous homage--knelt--what else?--O ay", "Knelt, and drew down from out his night-black hair", "And mumbled that white hand whose ringed caress", "Had wandered from her own King's golden head,", "And lost itself in darkness, till she cried--", "I thought the great tower would crash down on both--", "\"Rise, my sweet King, and kiss me on the lips,", "Thou art my King.\" This lad, whose lightest word", "Is mere white truth in simple nakedness,", "Saw them embrace: he reddens, cannot speak,", "So bashful, he! but all the maiden Saints,", "The deathless mother-maidenhood of Heaven,", "Cry out upon her. Up then, ride with me!", "Talk not of shame! thou canst not, an thou would'st,", "Do these more shame than these have done themselves.'", "", "She lied with ease; but horror-stricken he,", "Remembering that dark bower at Camelot,", "Breathed in a dismal whisper 'It is truth.'", "", "Sunnily she smiled 'And even in this lone wood,", "Sweet lord, ye do right well to whisper this.", "Fools prate, and perish traitors. Woods have tongues,", "As walls have ears: but thou shalt go with me,", "And we will speak at first exceeding low.", "Meet is it the good King be not deceived.", "See now, I set thee high on vantage ground,", "From whence to watch the time, and eagle-like", "Stoop at thy will on Lancelot and the Queen.'", "", "She ceased; his evil spirit upon him leapt,", "He ground his teeth together, sprang with a yell,", "Tore from the branch, and cast on earth, the shield,", "Drove his mailed heel athwart the royal crown,", "Stampt all into defacement, hurled it from him", "Among the forest weeds, and cursed the tale,", "The told-of, and the teller.", "That weird yell,", "Unearthlier than all shriek of bird or beast,", "Thrilled through the woods; and Balan lurking there", "(His quest was unaccomplished) heard and thought", "'The scream of that Wood-devil I came to quell!'", "Then nearing 'Lo! he hath slain some brother-knight,", "And tramples on the goodly shield to show", "His loathing of our Order and the Queen.", "My quest, meseems, is here. Or devil or man", "Guard thou thine head.' Sir Balin spake not word,", "But snatched a sudden buckler from the Squire,", "And vaulted on his horse, and so they crashed", "In onset, and King Pellam's holy spear,", "Reputed to be red with sinless blood,", "Redded at once with sinful, for the point", "Across the maiden shield of Balan pricked", "The hauberk to the flesh; and Balin's horse", "Was wearied to the death, and, when they clashed,", "Rolling back upon Balin, crushed the man", "Inward, and either fell, and swooned away.", "", "Then to her Squire muttered the damsel 'Fools!", "This fellow hath wrought some foulness with his Queen:", "Else never had he borne her crown, nor raved", "And thus foamed over at a rival name:", "But thou, Sir Chick, that scarce hast broken shell,", "Art yet half-yolk, not even come to down--", "Who never sawest Caerleon upon Usk--", "And yet hast often pleaded for my love--", "See what I see, be thou where I have been,", "Or else Sir Chick--dismount and loose their casques", "I fain would know what manner of men they be.'", "And when the Squire had loosed them, 'Goodly!--look!", "They might have cropt the myriad flower of May,", "And butt each other here, like brainless bulls,", "Dead for one heifer!", "Then the gentle Squire", "'I hold them happy, so they died for love:", "And, Vivien, though ye beat me like your dog,", "I too could die, as now I live, for thee.'", "", "'Live on, Sir Boy,' she cried. 'I better prize", "The living dog than the dead lion: away!", "I cannot brook to gaze upon the dead.'", "Then leapt her palfrey o'er the fallen oak,", "And bounding forward 'Leave them to the wolves.'", "", "But when their foreheads felt the cooling air,", "Balin first woke, and seeing that true face,", "Familiar up from cradle-time, so wan,", "Crawled slowly with low moans to where he lay,", "And on his dying brother cast himself", "Dying; and HE lifted faint eyes; he felt", "One near him; all at once they found the world,", "Staring wild-wide; then with a childlike wail", "And drawing down the dim disastrous brow", "That o'er him hung, he kissed it, moaned and spake;", "", "'O Balin, Balin, I that fain had died", "To save thy life, have brought thee to thy death.", "Why had ye not the shield I knew? and why", "Trampled ye thus on that which bare the Crown?'", "", "Then Balin told him brokenly, and in gasps,", "All that had chanced, and Balan moaned again.", "", "'Brother, I dwelt a day in Pellam's hall:", "This Garlon mocked me, but I heeded not.", "And one said \"Eat in peace! a liar is he,", "And hates thee for the tribute!\" this good knight", "Told me, that twice a wanton damsel came,", "And sought for Garlon at the castle-gates,", "Whom Pellam drove away with holy heat.", "I well believe this damsel, and the one", "Who stood beside thee even now, the same.", "\"She dwells among the woods\" he said \"and meets", "And dallies with him in the Mouth of Hell.\"", "Foul are their lives; foul are their lips; they lied.", "Pure as our own true Mother is our Queen.\"", "", "'O brother' answered Balin 'woe is me!", "My madness all thy life has been thy doom,", "Thy curse, and darkened all thy day; and now", "The night has come. I scarce can see thee now.", "", "Goodnight! for we shall never bid again", "Goodmorrow--Dark my doom was here, and dark", "It will be there. I see thee now no more.", "I would not mine again should darken thine,", "Goodnight, true brother.", "Balan answered low", "'Goodnight, true brother here! goodmorrow there!", "We two were born together, and we die", "Together by one doom:' and while he spoke", "Closed his death-drowsing eyes, and slept the sleep", "With Balin, either locked in either's arm." ], "linecount": "628" }, { "title": "Guinevere", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "Queen Guinevere had fled the court, and sat", "There in the holy house at Almesbury", "Weeping, none with her save a little maid,", "A novice: one low light betwixt them burned", "Blurred by the creeping mist, for all abroad,", "Beneath a moon unseen albeit at full,", "The white mist, like a face-cloth to the face,", "Clung to the dead earth, and the land was still.", "", "For hither had she fled, her cause of flight", "Sir Modred; he that like a subtle beast", "Lay couchant with his eyes upon the throne,", "Ready to spring, waiting a chance: for this", "He chilled the popular praises of the King", "With silent smiles of slow disparagement;", "And tampered with the Lords of the White Horse,", "Heathen, the brood by Hengist left; and sought", "To make disruption in the Table Round", "Of Arthur, and to splinter it into feuds", "Serving his traitorous end; and all his aims", "Were sharpened by strong hate for Lancelot.", "", "For thus it chanced one morn when all the court,", "Green-suited, but with plumes that mocked the may,", "Had been, their wont, a-maying and returned,", "That Modred still in green, all ear and eye,", "Climbed to the high top of the garden-wall", "To spy some secret scandal if he might,", "And saw the Queen who sat betwixt her best", "Enid, and lissome Vivien, of her court", "The wiliest and the worst; and more than this", "He saw not, for Sir Lancelot passing by", "Spied where he couched, and as the gardener's hand", "Picks from the colewort a green caterpillar,", "So from the high wall and the flowering grove", "Of grasses Lancelot plucked him by the heel,", "And cast him as a worm upon the way;", "But when he knew the Prince though marred with dust,", "He, reverencing king's blood in a bad man,", "Made such excuses as he might, and these", "Full knightly without scorn; for in those days", "No knight of Arthur's noblest dealt in scorn;", "But, if a man were halt or hunched, in him", "By those whom God had made full-limbed and tall,", "Scorn was allowed as part of his defect,", "And he was answered softly by the King", "And all his Table. So Sir Lancelot holp", "To raise the Prince, who rising twice or thrice", "Full sharply smote his knees, and smiled, and went:", "But, ever after, the small violence done", "Rankled in him and ruffled all his heart,", "As the sharp wind that ruffles all day long", "A little bitter pool about a stone", "On the bare coast.", "", "But when Sir Lancelot told", "This matter to the Queen, at first she laughed", "Lightly, to think of Modred's dusty fall,", "Then shuddered, as the village wife who cries", "`I shudder, some one steps across my grave;'", "Then laughed again, but faintlier, for indeed", "She half-foresaw that he, the subtle beast,", "Would track her guilt until he found, and hers", "Would be for evermore a name of scorn.", "Henceforward rarely could she front in hall,", "Or elsewhere, Modred's narrow foxy face,", "Heart-hiding smile, and gray persistent eye:", "Henceforward too, the Powers that tend the soul,", "To help it from the death that cannot die,", "And save it even in extremes, began", "To vex and plague her. Many a time for hours,", "Beside the placid breathings of the King,", "In the dead night, grim faces came and went", "Before her, or a vague spiritual fear--", "Like to some doubtful noise of creaking doors,", "Heard by the watcher in a haunted house,", "That keeps the rust of murder on the walls--", "Held her awake: or if she slept, she dreamed", "An awful dream; for then she seemed to stand", "On some vast plain before a setting sun,", "And from the sun there swiftly made at her", "A ghastly something, and its shadow flew", "Before it, till it touched her, and she turned--", "When lo! her own, that broadening from her feet,", "And blackening, swallowed all the land, and in it", "Far cities burnt, and with a cry she woke.", "And all this trouble did not pass but grew;", "Till even the clear face of the guileless King,", "And trustful courtesies of household life,", "Became her bane; and at the last she said,", "`O Lancelot, get thee hence to thine own land,", "For if thou tarry we shall meet again,", "And if we meet again, some evil chance", "Will make the smouldering scandal break and blaze", "Before the people, and our lord the King.'", "And Lancelot ever promised, but remained,", "And still they met and met. Again she said,", "`O Lancelot, if thou love me get thee hence.'", "And then they were agreed upon a night", "(When the good King should not be there) to meet", "And part for ever. Vivien, lurking, heard.", "She told Sir Modred. Passion-pale they met", "And greeted. Hands in hands, and eye to eye,", "Low on the border of her couch they sat", "Stammering and staring. It was their last hour,", "A madness of farewells. And Modred brought", "His creatures to the basement of the tower", "For testimony; and crying with full voice", "`Traitor, come out, ye are trapt at last,' aroused", "Lancelot, who rushing outward lionlike", "Leapt on him, and hurled him headlong, and he fell", "Stunned, and his creatures took and bare him off,", "And all was still: then she, `The end is come,", "And I am shamed for ever;' and he said,", "`Mine be the shame; mine was the sin: but rise,", "And fly to my strong castle overseas:", "There will I hide thee, till my life shall end,", "There hold thee with my life against the world.'", "She answered, `Lancelot, wilt thou hold me so?", "Nay, friend, for we have taken our farewells.", "Would God that thou couldst hide me from myself!", "Mine is the shame, for I was wife, and thou", "Unwedded: yet rise now, and let us fly,", "For I will draw me into sanctuary,", "And bide my doom.' So Lancelot got her horse,", "Set her thereon, and mounted on his own,", "And then they rode to the divided way,", "There kissed, and parted weeping: for he past,", "Love-loyal to the least wish of the Queen,", "Back to his land; but she to Almesbury", "Fled all night long by glimmering waste and weald,", "And heard the Spirits of the waste and weald", "Moan as she fled, or thought she heard them moan:", "And in herself she moaned `Too late, too late!'", "Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn,", "A blot in heaven, the Raven, flying high,", "Croaked, and she thought, `He spies a field of death;", "For now the Heathen of the Northern Sea,", "Lured by the crimes and frailties of the court,", "Begin to slay the folk, and spoil the land.'", "", "And when she came to Almesbury she spake", "There to the nuns, and said, `Mine enemies", "Pursue me, but, O peaceful Sisterhood,", "Receive, and yield me sanctuary, nor ask", "Her name to whom ye yield it, till her time", "To tell you:' and her beauty, grace and power,", "Wrought as a charm upon them, and they spared", "To ask it.", "", "So the stately Queen abode", "For many a week, unknown, among the nuns;", "Nor with them mixed, nor told her name, nor sought,", "Wrapt in her grief, for housel or for shrift,", "But communed only with the little maid,", "Who pleased her with a babbling heedlessness", "Which often lured her from herself; but now,", "This night, a rumour wildly blown about", "Came, that Sir Modred had usurped the realm,", "And leagued him with the heathen, while the King", "Was waging war on Lancelot: then she thought,", "`With what a hate the people and the King", "Must hate me,' and bowed down upon her hands", "Silent, until the little maid, who brooked", "No silence, brake it, uttering, `Late! so late!", "What hour, I wonder, now?' and when she drew", "No answer, by and by began to hum", "An air the nuns had taught her; `Late, so late!'", "Which when she heard, the Queen looked up, and said,", "`O maiden, if indeed ye list to sing,", "Sing, and unbind my heart that I may weep.'", "Whereat full willingly sang the little maid.", "", "`Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill!", "Late, late, so late! but we can enter still.", "Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.", "", "`No light had we: for that we do repent;", "And learning this, the bridegroom will relent.", "Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.", "", "`No light: so late! and dark and chill the night!", "O let us in, that we may find the light!", "Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.", "", "`Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet?", "O let us in, though late, to kiss his feet!", "No, no, too late! ye cannot enter now.'", "", "So sang the novice, while full passionately,", "Her head upon her hands, remembering", "Her thought when first she came, wept the sad Queen.", "Then said the little novice prattling to her,", "`O pray you, noble lady, weep no more;", "But let my words, the words of one so small,", "Who knowing nothing knows but to obey,", "And if I do not there is penance given--", "Comfort your sorrows; for they do not flow", "From evil done; right sure am I of that,", "Who see your tender grace and stateliness.", "But weigh your sorrows with our lord the King's,", "And weighing find them less; for gone is he", "To wage grim war against Sir Lancelot there,", "Round that strong castle where he holds the Queen;", "And Modred whom he left in charge of all,", "The traitor--Ah sweet lady, the King's grief", "For his own self, and his own Queen, and realm,", "Must needs be thrice as great as any of ours.", "For me, I thank the saints, I am not great.", "For if there ever come a grief to me", "I cry my cry in silence, and have done.", "None knows it, and my tears have brought me good:", "But even were the griefs of little ones", "As great as those of great ones, yet this grief", "Is added to the griefs the great must bear,", "That howsoever much they may desire", "Silence, they cannot weep behind a cloud:", "As even here they talk at Almesbury", "About the good King and his wicked Queen,", "And were I such a King with such a Queen,", "Well might I wish to veil her wickedness,", "But were I such a King, it could not be.'", "", "Then to her own sad heart muttered the Queen,", "`Will the child kill me with her innocent talk?'", "But openly she answered, `Must not I,", "If this false traitor have displaced his lord,", "Grieve with the common grief of all the realm?'", "", "`Yea,' said the maid, `this is all woman's grief,", "That SHE is woman, whose disloyal life", "Hath wrought confusion in the Table Round", "Which good King Arthur founded, years ago,", "With signs and miracles and wonders, there", "At Camelot, ere the coming of the Queen.'", "", "Then thought the Queen within herself again,", "`Will the child kill me with her foolish prate?'", "But openly she spake and said to her,", "`O little maid, shut in by nunnery walls,", "What canst thou know of Kings and Tables Round,", "Or what of signs and wonders, but the signs", "And simple miracles of thy nunnery?'", "", "To whom the little novice garrulously,", "`Yea, but I know: the land was full of signs", "And wonders ere the coming of the Queen.", "So said my father, and himself was knight", "Of the great Table--at the founding of it;", "And rode thereto from Lyonnesse, and he said", "That as he rode, an hour or maybe twain", "After the sunset, down the coast, he heard", "Strange music, and he paused, and turning--there,", "All down the lonely coast of Lyonnesse,", "Each with a beacon-star upon his head,", "And with a wild sea-light about his feet,", "He saw them--headland after headland flame", "Far on into the rich heart of the west:", "And in the light the white mermaiden swam,", "And strong man-breasted things stood from the sea,", "And sent a deep sea-voice through all the land,", "To which the little elves of chasm and cleft", "Made answer, sounding like a distant horn.", "So said my father--yea, and furthermore,", "Next morning, while he past the dim-lit woods,", "Himself beheld three spirits mad with joy", "Come dashing down on a tall wayside flower,", "That shook beneath them, as the thistle shakes", "When three gray linnets wrangle for the seed:", "And still at evenings on before his horse", "The flickering fairy-circle wheeled and broke", "Flying, and linked again, and wheeled and broke", "Flying, for all the land was full of life.", "And when at last he came to Camelot,", "A wreath of airy dancers hand-in-hand", "Swung round the lighted lantern of the hall;", "And in the hall itself was such a feast", "As never man had dreamed; for every knight", "Had whatsoever meat he longed for served", "By hands unseen; and even as he said", "Down in the cellars merry bloated things", "Shouldered the spigot, straddling on the butts", "While the wine ran: so glad were spirits and men", "Before the coming of the sinful Queen.'", "", "Then spake the Queen and somewhat bitterly,", "`Were they so glad? ill prophets were they all,", "Spirits and men: could none of them foresee,", "Not even thy wise father with his signs", "And wonders, what has fallen upon the realm?'", "", "To whom the novice garrulously again,", "`Yea, one, a bard; of whom my father said,", "Full many a noble war-song had he sung,", "Even in the presence of an enemy's fleet,", "Between the steep cliff and the coming wave;", "And many a mystic lay of life and death", "Had chanted on the smoky mountain-tops,", "When round him bent the spirits of the hills", "With all their dewy hair blown back like flame:", "So said my father--and that night the bard", "Sang Arthur's glorious wars, and sang the King", "As wellnigh more than man, and railed at those", "Who called him the false son of Gorlos:", "For there was no man knew from whence he came;", "But after tempest, when the long wave broke", "All down the thundering shores of Bude and Bos,", "There came a day as still as heaven, and then", "They found a naked child upon the sands", "Of dark Tintagil by the Cornish sea;", "And that was Arthur; and they fostered him", "Till he by miracle was approven King:", "And that his grave should be a mystery", "From all men, like his birth; and could he find", "A woman in her womanhood as great", "As he was in his manhood, then, he sang,", "The twain together well might change the world.", "But even in the middle of his song", "He faltered, and his hand fell from the harp,", "And pale he turned, and reeled, and would have fallen,", "But that they stayed him up; nor would he tell", "His vision; but what doubt that he foresaw", "This evil work of Lancelot and the Queen?'", "", "Then thought the Queen, `Lo! they have set her on,", "Our simple-seeming Abbess and her nuns,", "To play upon me,' and bowed her head nor spake.", "Whereat the novice crying, with clasped hands,", "Shame on her own garrulity garrulously,", "Said the good nuns would check her gadding tongue", "Full often, `and, sweet lady, if I seem", "To vex an ear too sad to listen to me,", "Unmannerly, with prattling and the tales", "Which my good father told me, check me too", "Nor let me shame my father's memory, one", "Of noblest manners, though himself would say", "Sir Lancelot had the noblest; and he died,", "Killed in a tilt, come next, five summers back,", "And left me; but of others who remain,", "And of the two first-famed for courtesy--", "And pray you check me if I ask amiss-", "But pray you, which had noblest, while you moved", "Among them, Lancelot or our lord the King?'", "", "Then the pale Queen looked up and answered her,", "`Sir Lancelot, as became a noble knight,", "Was gracious to all ladies, and the same", "In open battle or the tilting-field", "Forbore his own advantage, and the King", "In open battle or the tilting-field", "Forbore his own advantage, and these two", "Were the most nobly-mannered men of all;", "For manners are not idle, but the fruit", "Of loyal nature, and of noble mind.'", "", "`Yea,' said the maid, `be manners such fair fruit?'", "Then Lancelot's needs must be a thousand-fold", "Less noble, being, as all rumour runs,", "The most disloyal friend in all the world.'", "", "To which a mournful answer made the Queen:", "`O closed about by narrowing nunnery-walls,", "What knowest thou of the world, and all its lights", "And shadows, all the wealth and all the woe?", "If ever Lancelot, that most noble knight,", "Were for one hour less noble than himself,", "Pray for him that he scape the doom of fire,", "And weep for her that drew him to his doom.'", "", "`Yea,' said the little novice, `I pray for both;", "But I should all as soon believe that his,", "Sir Lancelot's, were as noble as the King's,", "As I could think, sweet lady, yours would be", "Such as they are, were you the sinful Queen.'", "", "So she, like many another babbler, hurt", "Whom she would soothe, and harmed where she would heal;", "For here a sudden flush of wrathful heat", "Fired all the pale face of the Queen, who cried,", "`Such as thou art be never maiden more", "For ever! thou their tool, set on to plague", "And play upon, and harry me, petty spy", "And traitress.' When that storm of anger brake", "From Guinevere, aghast the maiden rose,", "White as her veil, and stood before the Queen", "As tremulously as foam upon the beach", "Stands in a wind, ready to break and fly,", "And when the Queen had added `Get thee hence,'", "Fled frighted. Then that other left alone", "Sighed, and began to gather heart again,", "Saying in herself, `The simple, fearful child", "Meant nothing, but my own too-fearful guilt,", "Simpler than any child, betrays itself.", "But help me, heaven, for surely I repent.", "For what is true repentance but in thought--", "Not even in inmost thought to think again", "The sins that made the past so pleasant to us:", "And I have sworn never to see him more,", "To see him more.'", "", "And even in saying this,", "Her memory from old habit of the mind", "Went slipping back upon the golden days", "In which she saw him first, when Lancelot came,", "Reputed the best knight and goodliest man,", "Ambassador, to lead her to his lord", "Arthur, and led her forth, and far ahead", "Of his and her retinue moving, they,", "Rapt in sweet talk or lively, all on love", "And sport and tilts and pleasure, (for the time", "Was maytime, and as yet no sin was dreamed,)", "Rode under groves that looked a paradise", "Of blossom, over sheets of hyacinth", "That seemed the heavens upbreaking through the earth,", "And on from hill to hill, and every day", "Beheld at noon in some delicious dale", "The silk pavilions of King Arthur raised", "For brief repast or afternoon repose", "By couriers gone before; and on again,", "Till yet once more ere set of sun they saw", "The Dragon of the great Pendragonship,", "That crowned the state pavilion of the King,", "Blaze by the rushing brook or silent well.", "", "But when the Queen immersed in such a trance,", "And moving through the past unconsciously,", "Came to that point where first she saw the King", "Ride toward her from the city, sighed to find", "Her journey done, glanced at him, thought him cold,", "High, self-contained, and passionless, not like him,", "`Not like my Lancelot'--while she brooded thus", "And grew half-guilty in her thoughts again,", "There rode an armd warrior to the doors.", "A murmuring whisper through the nunnery ran,", "Then on a sudden a cry, `The King.' She sat", "Stiff-stricken, listening; but when armd feet", "Through the long gallery from the outer doors", "Rang coming, prone from off her seat she fell,", "And grovelled with her face against the floor:", "There with her milkwhite arms and shadowy hair", "She made her face a darkness from the King:", "And in the darkness heard his armd feet", "Pause by her; then came silence, then a voice,", "Monotonous and hollow like a Ghost's", "Denouncing judgment, but though changed, the King's:", "", "`Liest thou here so low, the child of one", "I honoured, happy, dead before thy shame?", "Well is it that no child is born of thee.", "The children born of thee are sword and fire,", "Red ruin, and the breaking up of laws,", "The craft of kindred and the Godless hosts", "Of heathen swarming o'er the Northern Sea;", "Whom I, while yet Sir Lancelot, my right arm,", "The mightiest of my knights, abode with me,", "Have everywhere about this land of Christ", "In twelve great battles ruining overthrown.", "And knowest thou now from whence I come--from him", "From waging bitter war with him: and he,", "That did not shun to smite me in worse way,", "Had yet that grace of courtesy in him left,", "He spared to lift his hand against the King", "Who made him knight: but many a knight was slain;", "And many more, and all his kith and kin", "Clave to him, and abode in his own land.", "And many more when Modred raised revolt,", "Forgetful of their troth and fealty, clave", "To Modred, and a remnant stays with me.", "And of this remnant will I leave a part,", "True men who love me still, for whom I live,", "To guard thee in the wild hour coming on,", "Lest but a hair of this low head be harmed.", "Fear not: thou shalt be guarded till my death.", "Howbeit I know, if ancient prophecies", "Have erred not, that I march to meet my doom.", "Thou hast not made my life so sweet to me,", "That I the King should greatly care to live;", "For thou hast spoilt the purpose of my life.", "Bear with me for the last time while I show,", "Even for thy sake, the sin which thou hast sinned.", "For when the Roman left us, and their law", "Relaxed its hold upon us, and the ways", "Were filled with rapine, here and there a deed", "Of prowess done redressed a random wrong.", "But I was first of all the kings who drew", "The knighthood-errant of this realm and all", "The realms together under me, their Head,", "In that fair Order of my Table Round,", "A glorious company, the flower of men,", "To serve as model for the mighty world,", "And be the fair beginning of a time.", "I made them lay their hands in mine and swear", "To reverence the King, as if he were", "Their conscience, and their conscience as their King,", "To break the heathen and uphold the Christ,", "To ride abroad redressing human wrongs,", "To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it,", "To honour his own word as if his God's,", "To lead sweet lives in purest chastity,", "To love one maiden only, cleave to her,", "And worship her by years of noble deeds,", "Until they won her; for indeed I knew", "Of no more subtle master under heaven", "Than is the maiden passion for a maid,", "Not only to keep down the base in man,", "But teach high thought, and amiable words", "And courtliness, and the desire of fame,", "And love of truth, and all that makes a man.", "And all this throve before I wedded thee,", "Believing, \"lo mine helpmate, one to feel", "My purpose and rejoicing in my joy.\"", "Then came thy shameful sin with Lancelot;", "Then came the sin of Tristram and Isolt;", "Then others, following these my mightiest knights,", "And drawing foul ensample from fair names,", "Sinned also, till the loathsome opposite", "Of all my heart had destined did obtain,", "And all through thee! so that this life of mine", "I guard as God's high gift from scathe and wrong,", "Not greatly care to lose; but rather think", "How sad it were for Arthur, should he live,", "To sit once more within his lonely hall,", "And miss the wonted number of my knights,", "And miss to hear high talk of noble deeds", "As in the golden days before thy sin.", "For which of us, who might be left, could speak", "Of the pure heart, nor seem to glance at thee?", "And in thy bowers of Camelot or of Usk", "Thy shadow still would glide from room to room,", "And I should evermore be vext with thee", "In hanging robe or vacant ornament,", "Or ghostly footfall echoing on the stair.", "For think not, though thou wouldst not love thy lord,", "Thy lord hast wholly lost his love for thee.", "I am not made of so slight elements.", "Yet must I leave thee, woman, to thy shame.", "I hold that man the worst of public foes", "Who either for his own or children's sake,", "To save his blood from scandal, lets the wife", "Whom he knows false, abide and rule the house:", "For being through his cowardice allowed", "Her station, taken everywhere for pure,", "She like a new disease, unknown to men,", "Creeps, no precaution used, among the crowd,", "Makes wicked lightnings of her eyes, and saps", "The fealty of our friends, and stirs the pulse", "With devil's leaps, and poisons half the young.", "Worst of the worst were that man he that reigns!", "Better the King's waste hearth and aching heart", "Than thou reseated in thy place of light,", "The mockery of my people, and their bane.'", "", "He paused, and in the pause she crept an inch", "Nearer, and laid her hands about his feet.", "Far off a solitary trumpet blew.", "Then waiting by the doors the warhorse neighed", "At a friend's voice, and he spake again:", "", "`Yet think not that I come to urge thy crimes,", "I did not come to curse thee, Guinevere,", "I, whose vast pity almost makes me die", "To see thee, laying there thy golden head,", "My pride in happier summers, at my feet.", "The wrath which forced my thoughts on that fierce law,", "The doom of treason and the flaming death,", "(When first I learnt thee hidden here) is past.", "The pang--which while I weighed thy heart with one", "Too wholly true to dream untruth in thee,", "Made my tears burn--is also past--in part.", "And all is past, the sin is sinned, and I,", "Lo! I forgive thee, as Eternal God", "Forgives: do thou for thine own soul the rest.", "But how to take last leave of all I loved?", "O golden hair, with which I used to play", "Not knowing! O imperial-moulded form,", "And beauty such as never woman wore,", "Until it became a kingdom's curse with thee--", "I cannot touch thy lips, they are not mine,", "But Lancelot's: nay, they never were the King's.", "I cannot take thy hand: that too is flesh,", "And in the flesh thou hast sinned; and mine own flesh,", "Here looking down on thine polluted, cries", "\"I loathe thee:\" yet not less, O Guinevere,", "For I was ever virgin save for thee,", "My love through flesh hath wrought into my life", "So far, that my doom is, I love thee still.", "Let no man dream but that I love thee still.", "Perchance, and so thou purify thy soul,", "And so thou lean on our fair father Christ,", "Hereafter in that world where all are pure", "We two may meet before high God, and thou", "Wilt spring to me, and claim me thine, and know", "I am thine husband--not a smaller soul,", "Nor Lancelot, nor another. Leave me that,", "I charge thee, my last hope. Now must I hence.", "Through the thick night I hear the trumpet blow:", "They summon me their King to lead mine hosts", "Far down to that great battle in the west,", "Where I must strike against the man they call", "My sister's son--no kin of mine, who leagues", "With Lords of the White Horse, heathen, and knights,", "Traitors--and strike him dead, and meet myself", "Death, or I know not what mysterious doom.", "And thou remaining here wilt learn the event;", "But hither shall I never come again,", "Never lie by thy side; see thee no more--", "Farewell!'", "", "And while she grovelled at his feet,", "She felt the King's breath wander o'er her neck,", "And in the darkness o'er her fallen head,", "Perceived the waving of his hands that blest.", "", "Then, listening till those armd steps were gone,", "Rose the pale Queen, and in her anguish found", "The casement: `peradventure,' so she thought,", "`If I might see his face, and not be seen.'", "And lo, he sat on horseback at the door!", "And near him the sad nuns with each a light", "Stood, and he gave them charge about the Queen,", "To guard and foster her for evermore.", "And while he spake to these his helm was lowered,", "To which for crest the golden dragon clung", "Of Britain; so she did not see the face,", "Which then was as an angel's, but she saw,", "Wet with the mists and smitten by the lights,", "The Dragon of the great Pendragonship", "Blaze, making all the night a steam of fire.", "And even then he turned; and more and more", "The moony vapour rolling round the King,", "Who seemed the phantom of a Giant in it,", "Enwound him fold by fold, and made him gray", "And grayer, till himself became as mist", "Before her, moving ghostlike to his doom.", "", "Then she stretched out her arms and cried aloud", "`Oh Arthur!' there her voice brake suddenly,", "Then--as a stream that spouting from a cliff", "Fails in mid air, but gathering at the base", "Re-makes itself, and flashes down the vale--", "Went on in passionate utterance:", "", "`Gone--my lord!", "Gone through my sin to slay and to be slain!", "And he forgave me, and I could not speak.", "Farewell? I should have answered his farewell.", "His mercy choked me. Gone, my lord the King,", "My own true lord! how dare I call him mine?", "The shadow of another cleaves to me,", "And makes me one pollution: he, the King,", "Called me polluted: shall I kill myself?", "What help in that? I cannot kill my sin,", "If soul be soul; nor can I kill my shame;", "No, nor by living can I live it down.", "The days will grow to weeks, the weeks to months", "The months will add themselves and make the years,", "The years will roll into the centuries,", "And mine will ever be a name of scorn.", "I must not dwell on that defeat of fame.", "Let the world be; that is but of the world.", "What else? what hope? I think there was a hope,", "Except he mocked me when he spake of hope;", "His hope he called it; but he never mocks,", "For mockery is the fume of little hearts.", "And blessd be the King, who hath forgiven", "My wickedness to him, and left me hope", "That in mine own heart I can live down sin", "And be his mate hereafter in the heavens", "Before high God. Ah great and gentle lord,", "Who wast, as is the conscience of a saint", "Among his warring senses, to thy knights--", "To whom my false voluptuous pride, that took", "Full easily all impressions from below,", "Would not look up, or half-despised the height", "To which I would not or I could not climb--", "I thought I could not breathe in that fine air", "That pure severity of perfect light--", "I yearned for warmth and colour which I found", "In Lancelot--now I see thee what thou art,", "Thou art the highest and most human too,", "Not Lancelot, nor another. Is there none", "Will tell the King I love him though so late?", "Now--ere he goes to the great Battle? none:", "Myself must tell him in that purer life,", "But now it were too daring. Ah my God,", "What might I not have made of thy fair world,", "Had I but loved thy highest creature here?", "It was my duty to have loved the highest:", "It surely was my profit had I known:", "It would have been my pleasure had I seen.", "We needs must love the highest when we see it,", "Not Lancelot, nor another.'", "", "Here her hand", "Grasped, made her vail her eyes: she looked and saw", "The novice, weeping, suppliant, and said to her,", "`Yea, little maid, for am I not forgiven?'", "Then glancing up beheld the holy nuns", "All round her, weeping; and her heart was loosed", "Within her, and she wept with these and said,", "", "`Ye know me then, that wicked one, who broke", "The vast design and purpose of the King.", "O shut me round with narrowing nunnery-walls,", "Meek maidens, from the voices crying \"shame.\"", "I must not scorn myself: he loves me still.", "Let no one dream but that he loves me still.", "So let me, if you do not shudder at me,", "Nor shun to call me sister, dwell with you;", "Wear black and white, and be a nun like you,", "Fast with your fasts, not feasting with your feasts;", "Grieve with your griefs, not grieving at your joys,", "But not rejoicing; mingle with your rites;", "Pray and be prayed for; lie before your shrines;", "Do each low office of your holy house;", "Walk your dim cloister, and distribute dole", "To poor sick people, richer in His eyes", "Who ransomed us, and haler too than I;", "And treat their loathsome hurts and heal mine own;", "And so wear out in almsdeed and in prayer", "The sombre close of that voluptuous day,", "Which wrought the ruin of my lord the King.'", "", "She said: they took her to themselves; and she", "Still hoping, fearing `is it yet too late?'", "Dwelt with them, till in time their Abbess died.", "Then she, for her good deeds and her pure life,", "And for the power of ministration in her,", "And likewise for the high rank she had borne,", "Was chosen Abbess, there, an Abbess, lived", "For three brief years, and there, an Abbess, past", "To where beyond these voices there is peace." ], "linecount": "698" }, { "title": "The Last Tournament", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "Dagonet, the fool, whom Gawain in his mood", "Had made mock-knight of Arthur's Table Round,", "At Camelot, high above the yellowing woods,", "Danced like a withered leaf before the hall.", "And toward him from the hall, with harp in hand,", "And from the crown thereof a carcanet", "Of ruby swaying to and fro, the prize", "Of Tristram in the jousts of yesterday,", "Came Tristram, saying, `Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?'", "", "For Arthur and Sir Lancelot riding once", "Far down beneath a winding wall of rock", "Heard a child wail. A stump of oak half-dead,", "From roots like some black coil of carven snakes,", "Clutched at the crag, and started through mid air", "Bearing an eagle's nest: and through the tree", "Rushed ever a rainy wind, and through the wind", "Pierced ever a child's cry: and crag and tree", "Scaling, Sir Lancelot from the perilous nest,", "This ruby necklace thrice around her neck,", "And all unscarred from beak or talon, brought", "A maiden babe; which Arthur pitying took,", "Then gave it to his Queen to rear: the Queen", "But coldly acquiescing, in her white arms", "Received, and after loved it tenderly,", "And named it Nestling; so forgot herself", "A moment, and her cares; till that young life", "Being smitten in mid heaven with mortal cold", "Past from her; and in time the carcanet", "Vext her with plaintive memories of the child:", "So she, delivering it to Arthur, said,", "`Take thou the jewels of this dead innocence,", "And make them, an thou wilt, a tourney-prize.'", "", "To whom the King, `Peace to thine eagle-borne", "Dead nestling, and this honour after death,", "Following thy will! but, O my Queen, I muse", "Why ye not wear on arm, or neck, or zone", "Those diamonds that I rescued from the tarn,", "And Lancelot won, methought, for thee to wear.'", "", "`Would rather you had let them fall,' she cried,", "`Plunge and be lost--ill-fated as they were,", "A bitterness to me!--ye look amazed,", "Not knowing they were lost as soon as given--", "Slid from my hands, when I was leaning out", "Above the river--that unhappy child", "Past in her barge: but rosier luck will go", "With these rich jewels, seeing that they came", "Not from the skeleton of a brother-slayer,", "But the sweet body of a maiden babe.", "Perchance--who knows?--the purest of thy knights", "May win them for the purest of my maids.'", "", "She ended, and the cry of a great jousts", "With trumpet-blowings ran on all the ways", "From Camelot in among the faded fields", "To furthest towers; and everywhere the knights", "Armed for a day of glory before the King.", "", "But on the hither side of that loud morn", "Into the hall staggered, his visage ribbed", "From ear to ear with dogwhip-weals, his nose", "Bridge-broken, one eye out, and one hand off,", "And one with shattered fingers dangling lame,", "A churl, to whom indignantly the King,", "", "`My churl, for whom Christ died, what evil beast", "Hath drawn his claws athwart thy face? or fiend?", "Man was it who marred heaven's image in thee thus?'", "", "Then, sputtering through the hedge of splintered teeth,", "Yet strangers to the tongue, and with blunt stump", "Pitch-blackened sawing the air, said the maimed churl,", "", "`He took them and he drave them to his tower--", "Some hold he was a table-knight of thine--", "A hundred goodly ones--the Red Knight, he--", "Lord, I was tending swine, and the Red Knight", "Brake in upon me and drave them to his tower;", "And when I called upon thy name as one", "That doest right by gentle and by churl,", "Maimed me and mauled, and would outright have slain,", "Save that he sware me to a message, saying,", "\"Tell thou the King and all his liars, that I", "Have founded my Round Table in the North,", "And whatsoever his own knights have sworn", "My knights have sworn the counter to it--and say", "My tower is full of harlots, like his court,", "But mine are worthier, seeing they profess", "To be none other than themselves--and say", "My knights are all adulterers like his own,", "But mine are truer, seeing they profess", "To be none other; and say his hour is come,", "The heathen are upon him, his long lance", "Broken, and his Excalibur a straw.\"'", "", "Then Arthur turned to Kay the seneschal,", "`Take thou my churl, and tend him curiously", "Like a king's heir, till all his hurts be whole.", "The heathen--but that ever-climbing wave,", "Hurled back again so often in empty foam,", "Hath lain for years at rest--and renegades,", "Thieves, bandits, leavings of confusion, whom", "The wholesome realm is purged of otherwhere,", "Friends, through your manhood and your fealty,--now", "Make their last head like Satan in the North.", "My younger knights, new-made, in whom your flower", "Waits to be solid fruit of golden deeds,", "Move with me toward their quelling, which achieved,", "The loneliest ways are safe from shore to shore.", "But thou, Sir Lancelot, sitting in my place", "Enchaired tomorrow, arbitrate the field;", "For wherefore shouldst thou care to mingle with it,", "Only to yield my Queen her own again?", "Speak, Lancelot, thou art silent: is it well?'", "", "Thereto Sir Lancelot answered, `It is well:", "Yet better if the King abide, and leave", "The leading of his younger knights to me.", "Else, for the King has willed it, it is well.'", "", "Then Arthur rose and Lancelot followed him,", "And while they stood without the doors, the King", "Turned to him saying, `Is it then so well?", "Or mine the blame that oft I seem as he", "Of whom was written, \"A sound is in his ears\"?", "The foot that loiters, bidden go,--the glance", "That only seems half-loyal to command,--", "A manner somewhat fallen from reverence--", "Or have I dreamed the bearing of our knights", "Tells of a manhood ever less and lower?", "Or whence the fear lest this my realm, upreared,", "By noble deeds at one with noble vows,", "From flat confusion and brute violences,", "Reel back into the beast, and be no more?'", "", "He spoke, and taking all his younger knights,", "Down the slope city rode, and sharply turned", "North by the gate. In her high bower the Queen,", "Working a tapestry, lifted up her head,", "Watched her lord pass, and knew not that she sighed.", "Then ran across her memory the strange rhyme", "Of bygone Merlin, `Where is he who knows?", "From the great deep to the great deep he goes.'", "", "But when the morning of a tournament,", "By these in earnest those in mockery called", "The Tournament of the Dead Innocence,", "Brake with a wet wind blowing, Lancelot,", "Round whose sick head all night, like birds of prey,", "The words of Arthur flying shrieked, arose,", "And down a streetway hung with folds of pure", "White samite, and by fountains running wine,", "Where children sat in white with cups of gold,", "Moved to the lists, and there, with slow sad steps", "Ascending, filled his double-dragoned chair.", "", "He glanced and saw the stately galleries,", "Dame, damsel, each through worship of their Queen", "White-robed in honour of the stainless child,", "And some with scattered jewels, like a bank", "Of maiden snow mingled with sparks of fire.", "He looked but once, and vailed his eyes again.", "", "The sudden trumpet sounded as in a dream", "To ears but half-awaked, then one low roll", "Of Autumn thunder, and the jousts began:", "And ever the wind blew, and yellowing leaf", "And gloom and gleam, and shower and shorn plume", "Went down it. Sighing weariedly, as one", "Who sits and gazes on a faded fire,", "When all the goodlier guests are past away,", "Sat their great umpire, looking o'er the lists.", "He saw the laws that ruled the tournament", "Broken, but spake not; once, a knight cast down", "Before his throne of arbitration cursed", "The dead babe and the follies of the King;", "And once the laces of a helmet cracked,", "And showed him, like a vermin in its hole,", "Modred, a narrow face: anon he heard", "The voice that billowed round the barriers roar", "An ocean-sounding welcome to one knight,", "But newly-entered, taller than the rest,", "And armoured all in forest green, whereon", "There tript a hundred tiny silver deer,", "And wearing but a holly-spray for crest,", "With ever-scattering berries, and on shield", "A spear, a harp, a bugle--Tristram--late", "From overseas in Brittany returned,", "And marriage with a princess of that realm,", "Isolt the White--Sir Tristram of the Woods--", "Whom Lancelot knew, had held sometime with pain", "His own against him, and now yearned to shake", "The burthen off his heart in one full shock", "With Tristram even to death: his strong hands gript", "And dinted the gilt dragons right and left,", "Until he groaned for wrath--so many of those,", "That ware their ladies' colours on the casque,", "Drew from before Sir Tristram to the bounds,", "And there with gibes and flickering mockeries", "Stood, while he muttered, `Craven crests! O shame!", "What faith have these in whom they sware to love?", "The glory of our Round Table is no more.'", "", "So Tristram won, and Lancelot gave, the gems,", "Not speaking other word than `Hast thou won?", "Art thou the purest, brother? See, the hand", "Wherewith thou takest this, is red!' to whom", "Tristram, half plagued by Lancelot's languorous mood,", "Made answer, `Ay, but wherefore toss me this", "Like a dry bone cast to some hungry hound?", "Lest be thy fair Queen's fantasy. Strength of heart", "And might of limb, but mainly use and skill,", "Are winners in this pastime of our King.", "My hand--belike the lance hath dript upon it--", "No blood of mine, I trow; but O chief knight,", "Right arm of Arthur in the battlefield,", "Great brother, thou nor I have made the world;", "Be happy in thy fair Queen as I in mine.'", "", "And Tristram round the gallery made his horse", "Caracole; then bowed his homage, bluntly saying,", "`Fair damsels, each to him who worships each", "Sole Queen of Beauty and of love, behold", "This day my Queen of Beauty is not here.'", "And most of these were mute, some angered, one", "Murmuring, `All courtesy is dead,' and one,", "`The glory of our Round Table is no more.'", "", "Then fell thick rain, plume droopt and mantle clung,", "And pettish cries awoke, and the wan day", "Went glooming down in wet and weariness:", "But under her black brows a swarthy one", "Laughed shrilly, crying, `Praise the patient saints,", "Our one white day of Innocence hath past,", "Though somewhat draggled at the skirt. So be it.", "The snowdrop only, flowering through the year,", "Would make the world as blank as Winter-tide.", "Come--let us gladden their sad eyes, our Queen's", "And Lancelot's, at this night's solemnity", "With all the kindlier colours of the field.'", "", "So dame and damsel glittered at the feast", "Variously gay: for he that tells the tale", "Likened them, saying, as when an hour of cold", "Falls on the mountain in midsummer snows,", "And all the purple slopes of mountain flowers", "Pass under white, till the warm hour returns", "With veer of wind, and all are flowers again;", "So dame and damsel cast the simple white,", "And glowing in all colours, the live grass,", "Rose-campion, bluebell, kingcup, poppy, glanced", "About the revels, and with mirth so loud", "Beyond all use, that, half-amazed, the Queen,", "And wroth at Tristram and the lawless jousts,", "Brake up their sports, then slowly to her bower", "Parted, and in her bosom pain was lord.", "", "And little Dagonet on the morrow morn,", "High over all the yellowing Autumn-tide,", "Danced like a withered leaf before the hall.", "Then Tristram saying, `Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?'", "Wheeled round on either heel, Dagonet replied,", "`Belike for lack of wiser company;", "Or being fool, and seeing too much wit", "Makes the world rotten, why, belike I skip", "To know myself the wisest knight of all.'", "`Ay, fool,' said Tristram, `but 'tis eating dry", "To dance without a catch, a roundelay", "To dance to.' Then he twangled on his harp,", "And while he twangled little Dagonet stood", "Quiet as any water-sodden log", "Stayed in the wandering warble of a brook;", "But when the twangling ended, skipt again;", "And being asked, `Why skipt ye not, Sir Fool?'", "Made answer, `I had liefer twenty years", "Skip to the broken music of my brains", "Than any broken music thou canst make.'", "Then Tristram, waiting for the quip to come,", "`Good now, what music have I broken, fool?'", "And little Dagonet, skipping, `Arthur, the King's;", "For when thou playest that air with Queen Isolt,", "Thou makest broken music with thy bride,", "Her daintier namesake down in Brittany--", "And so thou breakest Arthur's music too.'", "`Save for that broken music in thy brains,", "Sir Fool,' said Tristram, `I would break thy head.", "Fool, I came too late, the heathen wars were o'er,", "The life had flown, we sware but by the shell--", "I am but a fool to reason with a fool--", "Come, thou art crabbed and sour: but lean me down,", "Sir Dagonet, one of thy long asses' ears,", "And harken if my music be not true.", "", "`\"Free love--free field--we love but while we may:", "The woods are hushed, their music is no more:", "The leaf is dead, the yearning past away:", "New leaf, new life--the days of frost are o'er:", "New life, new love, to suit the newer day:", "New loves are sweet as those that went before:", "Free love--free field--we love but while we may.\"", "", "`Ye might have moved slow-measure to my tune,", "Not stood stockstill. I made it in the woods,", "And heard it ring as true as tested gold.'", "", "But Dagonet with one foot poised in his hand,", "`Friend, did ye mark that fountain yesterday", "Made to run wine?--but this had run itself", "All out like a long life to a sour end--", "And them that round it sat with golden cups", "To hand the wine to whosoever came--", "The twelve small damosels white as Innocence,", "In honour of poor Innocence the babe,", "Who left the gems which Innocence the Queen", "Lent to the King, and Innocence the King", "Gave for a prize--and one of those white slips", "Handed her cup and piped, the pretty one,", "\"Drink, drink, Sir Fool,\" and thereupon I drank,", "Spat--pish--the cup was gold, the draught was mud.'", "", "And Tristram, `Was it muddier than thy gibes?", "Is all the laughter gone dead out of thee?--", "Not marking how the knighthood mock thee, fool--", "\"Fear God: honour the King--his one true knight--", "Sole follower of the vows\"--for here be they", "Who knew thee swine enow before I came,", "Smuttier than blasted grain: but when the King", "Had made thee fool, thy vanity so shot up", "It frighted all free fool from out thy heart;", "Which left thee less than fool, and less than swine,", "A naked aught--yet swine I hold thee still,", "For I have flung thee pearls and find thee swine.'", "", "And little Dagonet mincing with his feet,", "`Knight, an ye fling those rubies round my neck", "In lieu of hers, I'll hold thou hast some touch", "Of music, since I care not for thy pearls.", "Swine? I have wallowed, I have washed--the world", "Is flesh and shadow--I have had my day.", "The dirty nurse, Experience, in her kind", "Hath fouled me--an I wallowed, then I washed--", "I have had my day and my philosophies--", "And thank the Lord I am King Arthur's fool.", "Swine, say ye? swine, goats, asses, rams and geese", "Trooped round a Paynim harper once, who thrummed", "On such a wire as musically as thou", "Some such fine song--but never a king's fool.'", "", "And Tristram, `Then were swine, goats, asses, geese", "The wiser fools, seeing thy Paynim bard", "Had such a mastery of his mystery", "That he could harp his wife up out of hell.'", "", "Then Dagonet, turning on the ball of his foot,", "`And whither harp'st thou thine? down! and thyself", "Down! and two more: a helpful harper thou,", "That harpest downward! Dost thou know the star", "We call the harp of Arthur up in heaven?'", "", "And Tristram, `Ay, Sir Fool, for when our King", "Was victor wellnigh day by day, the knights,", "Glorying in each new glory, set his name", "High on all hills, and in the signs of heaven.'", "", "And Dagonet answered, `Ay, and when the land", "Was freed, and the Queen false, ye set yourself", "To babble about him, all to show your wit--", "And whether he were King by courtesy,", "Or King by right--and so went harping down", "The black king's highway, got so far, and grew", "So witty that ye played at ducks and drakes", "With Arthur's vows on the great lake of fire.", "Tuwhoo! do ye see it? do ye see the star?'", "", "`Nay, fool,' said Tristram, `not in open day.'", "And Dagonet, `Nay, nor will: I see it and hear.", "It makes a silent music up in heaven,", "And I, and Arthur and the angels hear,", "And then we skip.' `Lo, fool,' he said, `ye talk", "Fool's treason: is the King thy brother fool?'", "Then little Dagonet clapt his hands and shrilled,", "`Ay, ay, my brother fool, the king of fools!", "Conceits himself as God that he can make", "Figs out of thistles, silk from bristles, milk", "From burning spurge, honey from hornet-combs,", "And men from beasts--Long live the king of fools!'", "", "And down the city Dagonet danced away;", "But through the slowly-mellowing avenues", "And solitary passes of the wood", "Rode Tristram toward Lyonnesse and the west.", "Before him fled the face of Queen Isolt", "With ruby-circled neck, but evermore", "Past, as a rustle or twitter in the wood", "Made dull his inner, keen his outer eye", "For all that walked, or crept, or perched, or flew.", "Anon the face, as, when a gust hath blown,", "Unruffling waters re-collect the shape", "Of one that in them sees himself, returned;", "But at the slot or fewmets of a deer,", "Or even a fallen feather, vanished again.", "", "So on for all that day from lawn to lawn", "Through many a league-long bower he rode. At length", "A lodge of intertwisted beechen-boughs", "Furze-crammed, and bracken-rooft, the which himself", "Built for a summer day with Queen Isolt", "Against a shower, dark in the golden grove", "Appearing, sent his fancy back to where", "She lived a moon in that low lodge with him:", "Till Mark her lord had past, the Cornish King,", "With six or seven, when Tristram was away,", "And snatched her thence; yet dreading worse than shame", "Her warrior Tristram, spake not any word,", "But bode his hour, devising wretchedness.", "", "And now that desert lodge to Tristram lookt", "So sweet, that halting, in he past, and sank", "Down on a drift of foliage random-blown;", "But could not rest for musing how to smoothe", "And sleek his marriage over to the Queen.", "Perchance in lone Tintagil far from all", "The tonguesters of the court she had not heard.", "But then what folly had sent him overseas", "After she left him lonely here? a name?", "Was it the name of one in Brittany,", "Isolt, the daughter of the King? `Isolt", "Of the white hands' they called her: the sweet name", "Allured him first, and then the maid herself,", "Who served him well with those white hands of hers,", "And loved him well, until himself had thought", "He loved her also, wedded easily,", "But left her all as easily, and returned.", "The black-blue Irish hair and Irish eyes", "Had drawn him home--what marvel? then he laid", "His brows upon the drifted leaf and dreamed.", "", "He seemed to pace the strand of Brittany", "Between Isolt of Britain and his bride,", "And showed them both the ruby-chain, and both", "Began to struggle for it, till his Queen", "Graspt it so hard, that all her hand was red.", "Then cried the Breton, `Look, her hand is red!", "These be no rubies, this is frozen blood,", "And melts within her hand--her hand is hot", "With ill desires, but this I gave thee, look,", "Is all as cool and white as any flower.'", "Followed a rush of eagle's wings, and then", "A whimpering of the spirit of the child,", "Because the twain had spoiled her carcanet.", "", "He dreamed; but Arthur with a hundred spears", "Rode far, till o'er the illimitable reed,", "And many a glancing plash and sallowy isle,", "The wide-winged sunset of the misty marsh", "Glared on a huge machicolated tower", "That stood with open doors, whereout was rolled", "A roar of riot, as from men secure", "Amid their marshes, ruffians at their ease", "Among their harlot-brides, an evil song.", "`Lo there,' said one of Arthur's youth, for there,", "High on a grim dead tree before the tower,", "A goodly brother of the Table Round", "Swung by the neck: and on the boughs a shield", "Showing a shower of blood in a field noir,", "And therebeside a horn, inflamed the knights", "At that dishonour done the gilded spur,", "Till each would clash the shield, and blow the horn.", "But Arthur waved them back. Alone he rode.", "Then at the dry harsh roar of the great horn,", "That sent the face of all the marsh aloft", "An ever upward-rushing storm and cloud", "Of shriek and plume, the Red Knight heard, and all,", "Even to tipmost lance and topmost helm,", "In blood-red armour sallying, howled to the King,", "", "`The teeth of Hell flay bare and gnash thee flat!--", "Lo! art thou not that eunuch-hearted King", "Who fain had clipt free manhood from the world--", "The woman-worshipper? Yea, God's curse, and I!", "Slain was the brother of my paramour", "By a knight of thine, and I that heard her whine", "And snivel, being eunuch-hearted too,", "Sware by the scorpion-worm that twists in hell,", "And stings itself to everlasting death,", "To hang whatever knight of thine I fought", "And tumbled. Art thou King? --Look to thy life!'", "", "He ended: Arthur knew the voice; the face", "Wellnigh was helmet-hidden, and the name", "Went wandering somewhere darkling in his mind.", "And Arthur deigned not use of word or sword,", "But let the drunkard, as he stretched from horse", "To strike him, overbalancing his bulk,", "Down from the causeway heavily to the swamp", "Fall, as the crest of some slow-arching wave,", "Heard in dead night along that table-shore,", "Drops flat, and after the great waters break", "Whitening for half a league, and thin themselves,", "Far over sands marbled with moon and cloud,", "From less and less to nothing; thus he fell", "Head-heavy; then the knights, who watched him, roared", "And shouted and leapt down upon the fallen;", "There trampled out his face from being known,", "And sank his head in mire, and slimed themselves:", "Nor heard the King for their own cries, but sprang", "Through open doors, and swording right and left", "Men, women, on their sodden faces, hurled", "The tables over and the wines, and slew", "Till all the rafters rang with woman-yells,", "And all the pavement streamed with massacre:", "Then, echoing yell with yell, they fired the tower,", "Which half that autumn night, like the live North,", "Red-pulsing up through Alioth and Alcor,", "Made all above it, and a hundred meres", "About it, as the water Moab saw", "Came round by the East, and out beyond them flushed", "The long low dune, and lazy-plunging sea.", "", "So all the ways were safe from shore to shore,", "But in the heart of Arthur pain was lord.", "", "Then, out of Tristram waking, the red dream", "Fled with a shout, and that low lodge returned,", "Mid-forest, and the wind among the boughs.", "He whistled his good warhorse left to graze", "Among the forest greens, vaulted upon him,", "And rode beneath an ever-showering leaf,", "Till one lone woman, weeping near a cross,", "Stayed him. `Why weep ye?' `Lord,' she said, `my man", "Hath left me or is dead;' whereon he thought--", "`What, if she hate me now? I would not this.", "What, if she love me still? I would not that.", "I know not what I would'--but said to her,", "`Yet weep not thou, lest, if thy mate return,", "He find thy favour changed and love thee not'--", "Then pressing day by day through Lyonnesse", "Last in a roky hollow, belling, heard", "The hounds of Mark, and felt the goodly hounds", "Yelp at his heart, but turning, past and gained", "Tintagil, half in sea, and high on land,", "A crown of towers.", "", "Down in a casement sat,", "A low sea-sunset glorying round her hair", "And glossy-throated grace, Isolt the Queen.", "And when she heard the feet of Tristram grind", "The spiring stone that scaled about her tower,", "Flushed, started, met him at the doors, and there", "Belted his body with her white embrace,", "Crying aloud, `Not Mark--not Mark, my soul!", "The footstep fluttered me at first: not he:", "Catlike through his own castle steals my Mark,", "But warrior-wise thou stridest through his halls", "Who hates thee, as I him--even to the death.", "My soul, I felt my hatred for my Mark", "Quicken within me, and knew that thou wert nigh.'", "To whom Sir Tristram smiling, `I am here.", "Let be thy Mark, seeing he is not thine.'", "", "And drawing somewhat backward she replied,", "`Can he be wronged who is not even his own,", "But save for dread of thee had beaten me,", "Scratched, bitten, blinded, marred me somehow--Mark?", "What rights are his that dare not strike for them?", "Not lift a hand--not, though he found me thus!", "But harken! have ye met him? hence he went", "Today for three days' hunting--as he said--", "And so returns belike within an hour.", "Mark's way, my soul!--but eat not thou with Mark,", "Because he hates thee even more than fears;", "Nor drink: and when thou passest any wood", "Close vizor, lest an arrow from the bush", "Should leave me all alone with Mark and hell.", "My God, the measure of my hate for Mark", "Is as the measure of my love for thee.'", "", "So, plucked one way by hate and one by love,", "Drained of her force, again she sat, and spake", "To Tristram, as he knelt before her, saying,", "`O hunter, and O blower of the horn,", "Harper, and thou hast been a rover too,", "For, ere I mated with my shambling king,", "Ye twain had fallen out about the bride", "Of one--his name is out of me--the prize,", "If prize she were--(what marvel--she could see)--", "Thine, friend; and ever since my craven seeks", "To wreck thee villainously: but, O Sir Knight,", "What dame or damsel have ye kneeled to last?'", "", "And Tristram, `Last to my Queen Paramount,", "Here now to my Queen Paramount of love", "And loveliness--ay, lovelier than when first", "Her light feet fell on our rough Lyonnesse,", "Sailing from Ireland.'", "", "Softly laughed Isolt;", "`Flatter me not, for hath not our great Queen", "My dole of beauty trebled?' and he said,", "`Her beauty is her beauty, and thine thine,", "And thine is more to me--soft, gracious, kind--", "Save when thy Mark is kindled on thy lips", "Most gracious; but she, haughty, even to him,", "Lancelot; for I have seen him wan enow", "To make one doubt if ever the great Queen", "Have yielded him her love.'", "", "To whom Isolt,", "`Ah then, false hunter and false harper, thou", "Who brakest through the scruple of my bond,", "Calling me thy white hind, and saying to me", "That Guinevere had sinned against the highest,", "And I--misyoked with such a want of man--", "That I could hardly sin against the lowest.'", "", "He answered, `O my soul, be comforted!", "If this be sweet, to sin in leading-strings,", "If here be comfort, and if ours be sin,", "Crowned warrant had we for the crowning sin", "That made us happy: but how ye greet me--fear", "And fault and doubt--no word of that fond tale--", "Thy deep heart-yearnings, thy sweet memories", "Of Tristram in that year he was away.'", "", "And, saddening on the sudden, spake Isolt,", "`I had forgotten all in my strong joy", "To see thee--yearnings?--ay! for, hour by hour,", "Here in the never-ended afternoon,", "O sweeter than all memories of thee,", "Deeper than any yearnings after thee", "Seemed those far-rolling, westward-smiling seas,", "Watched from this tower. Isolt of Britain dashed", "Before Isolt of Brittany on the strand,", "Would that have chilled her bride-kiss? Wedded her?", "Fought in her father's battles? wounded there?", "The King was all fulfilled with gratefulness,", "And she, my namesake of the hands, that healed", "Thy hurt and heart with unguent and caress--", "Well--can I wish her any huger wrong", "Than having known thee? her too hast thou left", "To pine and waste in those sweet memories.", "O were I not my Mark's, by whom all men", "Are noble, I should hate thee more than love.'", "", "And Tristram, fondling her light hands, replied,", "`Grace, Queen, for being loved: she loved me well.", "Did I love her? the name at least I loved.", "Isolt?--I fought his battles, for Isolt!", "The night was dark; the true star set. Isolt!", "The name was ruler of the dark--Isolt?", "Care not for her! patient, and prayerful, meek,", "Pale-blooded, she will yield herself to God.'", "", "And Isolt answered, `Yea, and why not I?", "Mine is the larger need, who am not meek,", "Pale-blooded, prayerful. Let me tell thee now.", "Here one black, mute midsummer night I sat,", "Lonely, but musing on thee, wondering where,", "Murmuring a light song I had heard thee sing,", "And once or twice I spake thy name aloud.", "Then flashed a levin-brand; and near me stood,", "In fuming sulphur blue and green, a fiend--", "Mark's way to steal behind one in the dark--", "For there was Mark: \"He has wedded her,\" he said,", "Not said, but hissed it: then this crown of towers", "So shook to such a roar of all the sky,", "That here in utter dark I swooned away,", "And woke again in utter dark, and cried,", "\"I will flee hence and give myself to God\"--", "And thou wert lying in thy new leman's arms.'", "", "Then Tristram, ever dallying with her hand,", "`May God be with thee, sweet, when old and gray,", "And past desire!' a saying that angered her.", "`\"May God be with thee, sweet, when thou art old,", "And sweet no more to me!\" I need Him now.", "For when had Lancelot uttered aught so gross", "Even to the swineherd's malkin in the mast?", "The greater man, the greater courtesy.", "Far other was the Tristram, Arthur's knight!", "But thou, through ever harrying thy wild beasts--", "Save that to touch a harp, tilt with a lance", "Becomes thee well--art grown wild beast thyself.", "How darest thou, if lover, push me even", "In fancy from thy side, and set me far", "In the gray distance, half a life away,", "Her to be loved no more? Unsay it, unswear!", "Flatter me rather, seeing me so weak,", "Broken with Mark and hate and solitude,", "Thy marriage and mine own, that I should suck", "Lies like sweet wines: lie to me: I believe.", "Will ye not lie? not swear, as there ye kneel,", "And solemnly as when ye sware to him,", "The man of men, our King--My God, the power", "Was once in vows when men believed the King!", "They lied not then, who sware, and through their vows", "The King prevailing made his realm:--I say,", "Swear to me thou wilt love me even when old,", "Gray-haired, and past desire, and in despair.'", "", "Then Tristram, pacing moodily up and down,", "`Vows! did you keep the vow you made to Mark", "More than I mine? Lied, say ye? Nay, but learnt,", "The vow that binds too strictly snaps itself--", "My knighthood taught me this--ay, being snapt--", "We run more counter to the soul thereof", "Than had we never sworn. I swear no more.", "I swore to the great King, and am forsworn.", "For once--even to the height--I honoured him.", "\"Man, is he man at all?\" methought, when first", "I rode from our rough Lyonnesse, and beheld", "That victor of the Pagan throned in hall--", "His hair, a sun that rayed from off a brow", "Like hillsnow high in heaven, the steel-blue eyes,", "The golden beard that clothed his lips with light--", "Moreover, that weird legend of his birth,", "With Merlin's mystic babble about his end", "Amazed me; then, his foot was on a stool", "Shaped as a dragon; he seemed to me no man,", "But Micha l trampling Satan; so I sware,", "Being amazed: but this went by-- The vows!", "O ay--the wholesome madness of an hour--", "They served their use, their time; for every knight", "Believed himself a greater than himself,", "And every follower eyed him as a God;", "Till he, being lifted up beyond himself,", "Did mightier deeds than elsewise he had done,", "And so the realm was made; but then their vows--", "First mainly through that sullying of our Queen--", "Began to gall the knighthood, asking whence", "Had Arthur right to bind them to himself?", "Dropt down from heaven? washed up from out the deep?", "They failed to trace him through the flesh and blood", "Of our old kings: whence then? a doubtful lord", "To bind them by inviolable vows,", "Which flesh and blood perforce would violate:", "For feel this arm of mine--the tide within", "Red with free chase and heather-scented air,", "Pulsing full man; can Arthur make me pure", "As any maiden child? lock up my tongue", "From uttering freely what I freely hear?", "Bind me to one? The wide world laughs at it.", "And worldling of the world am I, and know", "The ptarmigan that whitens ere his hour", "Woos his own end; we are not angels here", "Nor shall be: vows--I am woodman of the woods,", "And hear the garnet-headed yaffingale", "Mock them: my soul, we love but while we may;", "And therefore is my love so large for thee,", "Seeing it is not bounded save by love.'", "", "Here ending, he moved toward her, and she said,", "`Good: an I turned away my love for thee", "To some one thrice as courteous as thyself--", "For courtesy wins woman all as well", "As valour may, but he that closes both", "Is perfect, he is Lancelot--taller indeed,", "Rosier and comelier, thou--but say I loved", "This knightliest of all knights, and cast thee back", "Thine own small saw, \"We love but while we may,\"", "Well then, what answer?'", "", "He that while she spake,", "Mindful of what he brought to adorn her with,", "The jewels, had let one finger lightly touch", "The warm white apple of her throat, replied,", "`Press this a little closer, sweet, until--", "Come, I am hungered and half-angered--meat,", "Wine, wine--and I will love thee to the death,", "And out beyond into the dream to come.'", "", "So then, when both were brought to full accord,", "She rose, and set before him all he willed;", "And after these had comforted the blood", "With meats and wines, and satiated their hearts--", "Now talking of their woodland paradise,", "The deer, the dews, the fern, the founts, the lawns;", "Now mocking at the much ungainliness,", "And craven shifts, and long crane legs of Mark--", "Then Tristram laughing caught the harp, and sang:", "", "`Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that bend the brier!", "A star in heaven, a star within the mere!", "Ay, ay, O ay--a star was my desire,", "And one was far apart, and one was near:", "Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that bow the grass!", "And one was water and one star was fire,", "And one will ever shine and one will pass.", "Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that move the mere.'", "", "Then in the light's last glimmer Tristram showed", "And swung the ruby carcanet. She cried,", "`The collar of some Order, which our King", "Hath newly founded, all for thee, my soul,", "For thee, to yield thee grace beyond thy peers.'", "", "`Not so, my Queen,' he said, `but the red fruit", "Grown on a magic oak-tree in mid-heaven,", "And won by Tristram as a tourney-prize,", "And hither brought by Tristram for his last", "Love-offering and peace-offering unto thee.'", "", "He spoke, he turned, then, flinging round her neck,", "Claspt it, and cried, `Thine Order, O my Queen!'", "But, while he bowed to kiss the jewelled throat,", "Out of the dark, just as the lips had touched,", "Behind him rose a shadow and a shriek--", "`Mark's way,' said Mark, and clove him through the brain.", "", "That night came Arthur home, and while he climbed,", "All in a death-dumb autumn-dripping gloom,", "The stairway to the hall, and looked and saw", "The great Queen's bower was dark,--about his feet", "A voice clung sobbing till he questioned it,", "`What art thou?' and the voice about his feet", "Sent up an answer, sobbing, `I am thy fool,", "And I shall never make thee smile again.'" ], "linecount": "760" }, { "title": "Idylls of the King: The Last Tournament (excerpt)", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "Dagonet, the fool, whom Gawain in his mood", "Had made mock-knight of Arthur's Table Round,", "At Camelot, high above the yellowing woods,", "Danced like a wither'd leaf before the hall.", "And toward him from the hall, with harp in hand,", "And from the crown thereof a carcanet", "Of ruby swaying to and fro, the prize", "Of Tristram in the jousts of yesterday,", "Came Tristram, saying, \"Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?\"", "", "For Arthur and Sir Lancelot riding once", "Far down beneath a winding wall of rock", "Heard a child wail. A stump of oak half-dead.", "From roots like some black coil of carven snakes,", "Clutch'd at the crag, and started thro' mid air", "Bearing an eagle's nest: and thro' the tree", "Rush'd ever a rainy wind, and thro' the wind", "Pierced ever a child's cry: and crag and tree", "Scaling, Sir Lancelot from the perilous nest,", "This ruby necklace thrice around her neck,", "And all unscarr'd from beak or talon, brought", "A maiden babe; which Arthur pitying took,", "Then gave it to his Queen to rear: the Queen", "But coldly acquiescing, in her white arms", "Received, and after loved it tenderly,", "And named it Nestling; so forgot herself", "A moment, and her cares; till that young life", "Being smitten in mid heaven with mortal cold", "Past from her; and in time the carcanet", "Vext her with plaintive memories of the child:", "So she, delivering it to Arthur, said,", "\"Take thou the jewels of this dead innocence,", "And make them, an thou wilt, a tourney-prize.\"", "", "To whom the King, \"Peace to thine eagle-borne", "Dead nestling, and this honour after death,", "Following thy will! but, O my Queen, I muse", "Why ye not wear on arm, or neck, or zone", "Those diamonds that I rescued from the tarn,", "And Lancelot won, methought, for thee to wear.\"", "", "\"Would rather you had let them fall,\" she cried,", "\"Plunge and be lost--ill-fated as they were,", "A bitterness to me!--ye look amazed,", "Not knowing they were lost as soon as given--", "Slid from my hands, when I was leaning out", "Above the river--that unhappy child", "Past in her barge: but rosier luck will go", "With these rich jewels, seeing that they came", "Not from the skeleton of a brother-slayer,", "But the sweet body of a maiden babe.", "Perchance--who knows?--the purest of thy knights", "May win them for the purest of my maids.\"", "", "She ended, and the cry of a great jousts", "With trumpet-blowings ran on all the ways", "From Camelot in among the faded fields", "To furthest towers; and everywhere the knights", "Arm'd for a day of glory before the King.", "", "But on the hither side of that loud morn", "Into the hall stagger'd, his visage ribb'd", "From ear to ear with dogwhip-weals, his nose", "Bridge-broken, one eye out, and one hand off,", "And one with shatter'd fingers dangling lame,", "A churl, to whom indignantly the King,", "", "\"My churl, for whom Christ died, what evil beast", "Hath drawn his claws athwart thy face? or fiend?", "Man was it who marr'd heaven's image in thee thus?\"", "", "Then, sputtering thro' the hedge of splinter'd teeth,", "Yet strangers to the tongue, and with blunt stump", "Pitch-blacken'd sawing the air, said the maim'd churl,", "", "\"He took them and he drave them to his tower--", "Some hold he was a table-knight of thine--", "A hundred goodly ones--the Red Knight, he--", "Lord, I was tending swine, and the Red Knight", "Brake in upon me and drave them to his tower;", "And when I cal'd upon thy name as one", "That doest right by gentle and by churl,", "Maim'd me and maul'd, and would outright have slain,", "Save that he aware me to a message, saying,", "'Tell thou the King and all his liars, that I", "Have founded my Round Table in the North,", "And whatsoever his own knights have sworn", "My knights have sworn the counter to it--and say", "My tower is full of harlots, like his court,", "But mine are worthier, seeing they profess", "To be none other than themselves--and say", "My knights are all adulterers like his own,", "But mine are truer, seeing they profess", "To be none other; and say his hour is come,", "The heathen are upon him, his long lance", "Broken, and his Excalibur a straw.' \"", "", "Then Arthur turn'd to Kay the seneschal,", "\"Take thou my churl, and tend him curiously", "Like a king's heir, till all his hurts be whole.", "The heathen--but that ever-climbing wave,", "Hurl'd back again so often in empty foam,", "Hath lain for years at rest--and renegades,", "Thieves, bandits, leavings of confusion, whom", "The wholesome realm is purged of otherwhere,", "Friends, thro' your manhood and your fealty,--now", "Make their last head like Satan in the North.", "My younger knights, new-made, in whom your flower", "Waits to be solid fruit of golden deeds,", "Move with me toward their quelling, which achieved,", "The loneliest ways are safe from shore to shore.", "But thou, Sir Lancelot, sitting in my place", "Enchair'd to-morrow, arbitrate the field;", "For wherefore shouldst thou care to mingle with it", "Only to yield my Queen her own again?", "Speak, Lancelot, thou art silent: is it well?\"", "", "", "Thereto Sir Lancelot answer'd, \"It is well:", "Yet better if the King abide, and leave", "The leading of his younger knights to me.", "Else, for the King has will'd it, it is well.\"", "", "", "Then Arthur rose and Lancelot follow'd him,", "And while they stood without the doors, the King", "Turn'd to him saying, \"Is it then so well?", "Or mine the blame that oft I seem as he", "Of whom was written, 'A sound is in his ears'?", "The foot that loiters, bidden go,--the glance", "That only seems half-loyal to command,--", "A manner somewhat fall'n from reverence--", "Or have I dream'd the bearing of our knights", "Tells of a manhood ever less and lower?", "Or whence the fear lest this my realm, uprear'd,", "By noble deeds at one with noble vows,", "From flat confusion and brute violence,s", "Reel back into the beast, and be no more?\"", "", "", "He spoke, and taking all his younger knights,", "Down the slope city rode, and sharply turn'd", "North by the gate. In her high bower the Queen,", "Working a tapestry, lifted up her head,", "Watch'd her lord pass, and knew not that she sigh'd.", "Then ran across her memory the strange rhyme", "Of bygone Merlin, \"Where is he who knows?", "From the great deep to the great deep he goes.\"", "", "", "But when the morning of a tournament,", "By these in earnest those in mockery call'd", "The Tournament of the Dead Innocence,", "Brake with a wet wind blowing, Lancelot,", "Round whose sick head all night, like birds of prey,", "The words of Arthur flying shriek'd, arose,", "And down a streetway hung with folds of pure", "White samite, and by fountains running wine,", "Where children sat in white with cups of gold,", "Moved to the lists, and there, with slow sad steps", "Ascending, fill'd his double-dragon'd chair.", "", "", "He glanced and saw the stately galleries,", "Dame, damsel, each thro' worship of their Queen", "White-robed in honour of the stainless child,", "And some with scatter'd jewels, like a bank", "Of maiden snow mingled with sparks of fire.", "He look'd but once, and vail'd his eyes again.", "", "", "The sudden trumpet sounded as in a dream", "To ears but half-awaked, then one low roll", "Of Autumn thunder, and the jousts began:", "And ever the wind blew, and yellowing leaf", "And gloom and gleam, and shower and shorn plume", "Went down it. Sighing weariedly, as one", "Who sits and gazes on a faded fire,", "When all the goodlier guests are past away,", "Sat their great umpire, looking o'er the lists.", "He saw the laws that ruled the tournament", "Broken, but spake not; once, a knight cast down", "Before his throne of arbitration cursed", "The dead babe and the follies of the King;", "And once the laces of a helmet crack'd,", "And show'd him, like a vermin in its hole,", "Modred, a narrow face: anon he heard", "The voice that billow'd round the barriers roar", "An ocean-sounding welcome to one knight,", "But newly-enter'd, taller than the rest,", "And armour'd all in forest green, whereon", "There tript a hundred tiny silver deer,", "And wearing but a holly-spray for crest,", "With ever-scattering berries, and on shield", "A spear, a harp, a bugle--Tristram--late", "From overseas in Brittany return'd,", "And marriage with a princess of that realm,", "Isolt the White--Sir Tristram of the Woods--", "Whom Lancelot knew, had held sometime with pain", "His own against him, and now yearn'd to shake", "The burthen off his heart in one full shock", "With Tristram ev'n to death: his strong hands gript", "And dinted the gilt dragons right and left,", "Until he groan'd for wrath--so many of those,", "That ware their ladies' colours on the casque,", "Drew from before Sir Tristram to the bounds,", "And there with gibes and flickering mockeries", "Stood, while he mutter'd, \"Craven crests! O shame!", "What faith have these in whom they sware to love?", "The glory of our Round Table is no more.\"", "", "", "So Tristram won, and Lancelot gave, the gems,", "Not speaking other word than \"Hast thou won?", "Art thou the purest, brother? See, the hand", "Wherewith thou takest this, is red!\" to whom", "Tristram, half plagued by Lancelot's languorous mood,", "Made answer, \"Ay, but wherefore toss me this", "Like a dry bone cast to some hungry hound?", "Let be thy fair Queen's fantasy. Strength of heart", "And might of limb, but mainly use and skill,", "Are winners in this pastime of our King.", "My hand--belike the lance hath dript upon it--", "No blood of mine, I trow; but O chief knight,", "Right arm of Arthur in the battlefield,", "Great brother, thou nor I have made the world;", "Be happy in thy fair Queen as I in mine.\"", "", "", "And Tristram round the gallery made his horse", "Caracole; then bow'd his homage, bluntly saying,", "\"Fair damsels, each to him who worships each", "Sole Queen of Beauty and of love, behold", "This day my Queen of Beauty is not here.\"", "And most of these were mute, some anger'd, one", "Murmuring, \"All courtesy is dead,\" and one", "\"The glory of our Round Table is no more.\"", "", "", "Then fell thick rain, plume droopt and mantle clung,", "And pettish cries awoke, and the wan day", "Went glooming down in wet and weariness:", "But under her black brows a swarthy one", "Laugh'd shrilly, crying, \"Praise the patient saints,", "Our one white day of Innocence hath past,", "Tho' somewhat draggled at the skirt. So be it.", "The snowdrop only, flowering thro' the year,", "Would make the world as blank as Winter-tide.", "Come--let us gladden their sad eyes, our Queen's", "And Lancelot's, at this night's solemnity", "With all the kindlier colours of the field.\"", "", "", "So dame and damsel glitter'd at the feast", "Variously gay: for he that tells the tale", "Liken'd them, saying, as when an hour of cold", "Falls on the mountain in midsummer snows,", "And all the purple slopes of mountain flowers", "Pass under white, till the warm hour returns", "With veer of wind, and all are flowers again;", "So dame and damsel cast the simple white,", "And glowing in all colours, the live grass,", "Rose-campion, bluebell, kingcup, poppy, glanced", "About the revels, and with mirth so loud", "Beyond all use, that, half-amazed, the Queen,", "And wroth at Tristram and the lawless jousts,", "Brake up their sports, then slowly to her bower", "Parted, and in her bosom pain was lord.", "", "", "And little Dagonet on the morrow morn,", "High over all the yellowing Autumn-tide,", "Danced like a wither'd leaf before the hall.", "Then Tristram saying, \"Why skip ye so, Sir Fool?\"", "Wheel'd round on either heel, Dagonet replied,", "\"Belike for lack of wiser company;", "Or being fool, and seeing too much wit", "Makes the world rotten, why, belike I skip", "To know myself the wisest knight of all.\"", "\"Ay, fool,\" said Tristram, \"but 'tis eating dry", "To dance without a catch, a roundelay", "To dance to.\" Then he twangled on his harp,", "And while he twangled little Dagonet stood", "Quiet as any water-sodden log", "Stay'd in the wandering warble of a brook;", "But when the twangling ended, skipt again;", "And being ask'd, \"Why skipt ye not, Sir Fool?\"", "Made answer, \"I had liefer twenty years", "Skip to the broken music of my brains", "Than any broken music thou canst make.\"", "Then Tristram, waiting for the quip to come,", "\"Good now, what music have I broken, fool?\"", "And little Dagonet, skipping, \"Arthur, the King's;", "For when thou playest that air with Queen Isolt,", "Thou makest broken music with thy bride,", "Her daintier namesake down in Brittany--", "And so thou breakest Arthur's music, too.\"", "\"Save for that broken music in thy brains,", "Sir Fool,\" said Tristram, \"I would break thy head.", "Fool, I came late, the heathen wars were o'er,", "The life had flown, we sware but by the shell--", "I am but a fool to reason with a fool--", "Come, thou art crabb'd and sour: but lean me down,", "Sir Dagonet, one of thy long asses' ears,", "And harken if my music be not true.", "", "", "\"`Free love--free field--we love but while we may:", "The woods are hush'd, their music is no more:", "The leaf is dead, the yearning past away:", "New leaf, new life--the days of frost are o'er:", "New life, new love, to suit the newer day:", "New loves are sweet as those that went before:", "Free love--free field--we love but while we may.'", "", "", "\"Ye might have moved slow-measure to my tune,", "Not stood stockstill. I made it in the woods,", "And heard it ring as true as tested gold.\"", "", "", "But Dagonet with one foot poised in his hand,", "\"Friend, did ye mark that fountain yesterday", "Made to run wine?--but this had run itself", "All out like a long life to a sour end--", "And them that round it sat with golden cups", "To hand the wine to whosoever came--", "The twelve small damosels white as Innocence,", "In honour of poor Innocence the babe,", "Who left the gems which Innocence the Queen", "Lent to the King, and Innocence the King", "Gave for a prize--and one of those white slips", "Handed her cup and piped, the pretty one,", "'Drink, drink, Sir Fool,' and thereupon I drank,", "Spat--pish--the cup was gold, the draught was mud.\"", "", "", "And Tristram, \"Was it muddier than thy gibes?", "Is all the laughter gone dead out of thee?--", "Not marking how the knighthood mock thee, fool--", "'Fear God: honour the King--his one true knight--", "Sole follower of the vows'--for here be they", "Who knew thee swine enow before I came,", "Smuttier than blasted grain: but when the King", "Had made thee fool, thy vanity so shot up", "It frighted all free fool from out thy heart;", "Which left thee less than fool, and less than swine,", "A naked aught--yet swine I hold thee still,", "For I have flung thee pearls and find thee swine.\"", "", "", "And little Dagonet mincing with his feet,", "\"Knight, an ye fling those rubies round my neck", "In lieu of hers, I'll hold thou hast some touch", "Of music, since I care not for thy pearls.", "Swine? I have wallow'd, I have wash'd--the world", "Is flesh and shadow--I have had my day.", "The dirty nurse, Experience, in her kind", "Hath foul'd me--an I wallow'd, then I wash'd--", "I have had my day and my philosophies--", "And thank the Lord I am King Arthur's fool.", "Swine, say ye? swine, goats, asses, rams and geese", "Troop'd round a Paynim harper once, who thrumm'd", "On such a wire as musically as thou", "Some such fine song--but never a king's fool.\"", "", "", "And Tristram, \"Then were swine, goats, asses, geese", "The wiser fools, seeing thy Paynim bard", "Had such a mastery of his mystery", "That he could harp his wife up out of hell.\"", "", "", "Then Dagonet, turning on the ball of his foot,", "\"And whither harp'st thou thine? down! and thyself", "Down! and two more: a helpful harper thou,", "That harpest downward! dost thou know the star", "We call the harp of Arthur up in heaven?\"", "", "", "And Tristram, \"Ay, Sir Fool, for when our King", "Was victor wellnigh day by day, the knights,", "Glorying in each new glory, set his name", "High on all hills, and in the signs of heaven.\"", "", "", "And Dagonet answer'd, \"Ay, and when the land", "Was freed, and the Queen false, ye set yourself", "To babble about him, all to show your wit--", "And whether he were King by courtesy,", "Or King by right--and so went harping down", "The black king's highway, got so far, and grew", "So witty that we play'd at ducks and drakes", "With Arthur's vows on the great lake of fire.", "Tuwhoo! do ye see it? do ye see the star?\"", "", "", "\"Nay, fool,\" said Tristram, \"not in open day.\"", "And Dagonet, \"Nay, nor will: I see it and hear.", "It makes a silent music up in heaven,", "And I, and Arthur and the angels hear,", "And then we skip.\" \"Lo, fool,\" he said, \"ye talk", "Fool's treason: is the King thy brother fool?\"", "Then little Dagonet clapt his hands and shrill'd,", "\"Ay, ay, my brother fool, the king of fools!", "Conceits himself as God that he can make", "Figs out of thistles, silk from bristles, milk", "From burning spurge, honey from hornet-combs", "And men from beasts--Long live the king of fools!\"", "", "", "And down the city Dagonet danced away;", "But thro' the slowly-mellowing avenues", "And solitary passes of the wood", "Rode Tristram toward Lyonnesse and the west.", "Before him fled the face of Queen Isolt", "With ruby-circled neck, but evermore", "Past, as a rustle or twitter in the wood", "Made dull his inner, keen his outer eye", "For all that walk'd, or crept, or perch'd, or flew.", "Anon the face, as, when a gust hath blown,", "Unruffling waters re-collect the shape", "Of one that in them sees himself, return'd;", "But at the slot or fewmets of a deer,", "Or ev'n a fall'n feather, vanish'd again.", "", "", "So on for all that day from lawn to lawn", "Thro' many a league-long bower he rode. At length", "A lodge of intertwisted beechen-boughs", "Furze-cramm'd, and bracken-rooft, the which himself", "Built for a summer day with Queen Isolt", "Against a shower, dark in the golden grove", "Appearing, sent his fancy back to where", "She lived a moon in that low lodge with him:", "Till Mark her lord had past, the Cornish King,", "With six or seven, when Tristram was away,", "And snatch'd her thence; yet dreading worse than shame", "Her warrior Tristram, spake not any word,", "But bode his hour, devising wretchedness.", "", "", "And now that desert lodge to Tristram lookt", "So sweet, that halting, in he past, and sank", "Down on a drift of foliage random-blown;", "But could not rest for musing how to smoothe", "And sleek his marriage over to the Queen.", "Perchance in lone Tintagil far from all", "The tonguesters of the court she had not heard.", "But then what folly had sent him overseas", "After she left him lonely here? a name?", "Was it the name of one in Brittany,", "Isolt, the daughter of the King? \"Isolt", "Of the white hands\" they call'd her: the sweet name", "Allured him first, and then the maid herself,", "Who served him well with those white hands of hers,", "And loved him well, until himself had thought", "He loved her also, wedded easily,", "But left her all as easily, and return'd.", "The black-blue Irish hair and Irish eyes", "Had drawn him home--what marvel? then he laid", "His brows upon the drifted leaf and dream'd.", "", "", "He seem'd to pace the strand of Brittany", "Between Isolt of Britain and his bride,", "And show'd them both the ruby-chain, and both", "Began to struggle for it, till his Queen", "Graspt it so hard, that all her hand was red.", "Then cried the Breton, \"Look, her hand is red!", "These be no rubies, this is frozen blood,", "And melts within her hand--her hand is hot", "With ill desires, but this I gave thee, look,", "Is all as cool and white as any flower.\"", "Follow'd a rush of eagle's wings, and then", "A whimpering of the spirit of the child,", "Because the twain had spoil'd her carcanet.", "", "", "He dream'd; but Arthur with a hundred spears", "Rode far, till o'er the illimitable reed,", "And many a glancing plash and sallowy isle,", "The wide-wing'd sunset of the misty marsh", "Glared on a huge machicolated tower", "That stood with open doors, where out was roll'd", "A roar of riot, as from men secure", "Amid their marshes, ruffians at their ease", "Among their harlot-brides, an evil song.", "\"Lo there,\" said one of Arthur's youth, for there,", "High on a grim dead tree before the tower,", "A goodly brother of the Table Round", "Swung by the neck: and on the boughs a shield", "Showing a shower of blood in a field noir,", "And therebeside a horn, inflamed the knights", "At that dishonour done the gilded spur,", "Till each would clash the shield, and blow the horn.", "But Arthur waved them back. Alone he rode.", "Then at the dry harsh roar of the great horn,", "That sent the face of all the marsh aloft", "An ever upward-rushing storm and cloud", "Of shriek and plume, the Red Knight heard, and all,", "Even to tipmost lance and topmost helm", "In blood-red armour sallying, howl'd to the King,", "", "", "\"The teeth of Hell flay bare and gnash thee flat!", "Lo! art thou not that eunuch-hearted King", "Who fain had clipt free manhood from the world--", "The woman-worshipper? Yea, God's curse, and I!", "Slain was the brother of my paramour", "By a knight of thine, and I that heard her whine", "And snivel, being eunuch-hearted too,", "Sware by the scorpion-worm that twists in hell,", "And stings itself to everlasting death,", "To hang whatever knight of thine I fought", "And tumbled. Art thou King?--Look to thy life!\"", "", "", "He ended: Arthur knew the voice; the face", "Wellnigh was helmet-hidden, and the name", "Went wandering somewhere darkling in his mind.", "And Arthur deign'd not use of word or sword,", "But let the drunkard, as he stretch'd from horse", "To strike him, overbalancing his bulk,", "Down from the causeway heavily to the swamp", "Fall, as the crest of some slow-arching wave,", "Heard in dead night along that table-shore,", "Drops flat, and after the great waters break", "Whitening for half a league, and thin themselves,", "Far over sands marbled with moon and cloud,", "From less and less to nothing; thus he fell", "Head-heavy; then the knights, who watch'd him, roar'd", "And shouted and leapt down upon the fall'n;", "There trampled out his face from being known,", "And sank his head in mire, and slimed themselves:", "Nor heard the King for their own cries, but sprang", "Thro' open doors, and swording right and left", "Men, women, on their sodden faces, hurl'd", "The tables over and the wines, and slew", "Till all the rafters rang with woman-yells,", "And all the pavement stream'd with massacre:", "Then, echoing yell with yell, they fired the tower,", "Which half that autumn night, like the live North,", "Red-pulsing up thro' Alioth and Alcor,", "Made all above it, and a hundred meres", "About it, as the water Moab saw", "Come round by the East, and out beyond them flush'd", "The long low dune, and lazy-plunging sea.", "", "", "So all the ways were safe from shore to shore,", "But in the heart of Arthur pain was lord.", "", "", "Then, out of Tristram waking, the red dream", "Fled with a shout, and that low lodge return'd,", "Mid-forest, and the wind among the boughs.", "He whistled his good warhorse left to graze", "Among the forest greens, vaulted upon him,", "And rode beneath an ever-showering leaf,", "Till one lone woman, weeping near a cross,", "Stay'd him. \"Why weep ye?\" \"Lord,\" she said, \"my man", "Hath left me or is dead\"; whereon he thought--", "\"What, if she hate me now? I would not this.", "What, if she love me still? I would not that.", "I know not what I would\"--but said to her,", "\"Yet weep not thou, lest, if thy mate return,", "He find thy favour changed and love thee not\"--", "Then pressing day by day thro' Lyonnesse", "Last in a roky hollow, belling, heard", "The hounds of Mark, and felt the goodly hounds", "Yelp at his heart, but turning, past and gain'd", "Tintagil, half in sea, and high on land,", "A crown of towers. Down in a casement sat,", "A low sea-sunset glorying round her hair", "And glossy-throated grace, Isolt the Queen.", "And when she heard the feet of Tristram grind", "The spiring stone that scaled about her tower,", "Flush'd, started, met him at the doors, and there", "Belted his body with her white embrace,", "Crying aloud, \"Not Mark--not Mark, my soul!", "The footstep flutter'd me at first: not he:", "Catlike thro' his own castle steals my Mark,", "But warrior-wise thou stridest thro' his halls", "Who hates thee, as I him--ev'n to the death.", "My soul, I felt my hatred for my Mark", "Quicken within me, and knew that thou wert nigh.\"", "To whom Sir Tristram smiling, \"I am here.", "Let be thy Mark, seeing he is not thine.\"", "", "", "And drawing somewhat backward she replied,", "\"Can he be wrong'd who is not ev'n his own,", "But save for dread of thee had beaten me,", "Scratch'd, bitten, blinded, marr'd me somehow--Mark?", "What rights are his that dare not strike for them?", "Not lift a hand--not, tho' he found me thus!", "But harken! have ye met him? hence he went", "To-day for three days' hunting--as he said--", "And so returns belike within an hour.", "Mark's way, my soul!--but eat not thou with Mark,", "Because he hates thee even more than fears;", "Nor drink: and when thou passest any wood", "Close vizor, lest an arrow from the bush", "Should leave me all alone with Mark and hell.", "My God, the measure of my hate for Mark", "Is as the measure of my love for thee.''", "", "", "So, pluck'd one way by hate and one by love,", "Drain'd of her force, again she sat, and spake", "To Tristram, as he knelt before her, saying,", "\"O hunter, and O blower of the horn,", "Harper, and thou hast been a rover too,", "For, ere I mated with my shambling king,", "Ye twain had fallen out about the bride", "Of one--his name is out of me--the prize,", "If prize she were--(what marvel--she could see)", "Thine, friend; and ever since my craven seeks", "To wreck thee villainously: but, O Sir Knight,", "What dame or damsel have ye kneel'd to last?\"", "", "", "And Tristram, \"Last to my Queen Paramount,", "Here now to my Queen Paramount of love", "And loveliness--ay, lovelier than when first", "Her light feet fell on our rough Lyonnesse,", "Sailing from Ireland.\" Softly laugh'd Isolt;", "\"Flatter me not, for hath not our great Queen", "My dole of beauty trebled?\" and he said,", "\"Her beauty is her beauty, and thine thine,", "And thine is more to me--soft, gracious, kind--", "Save when thy Mark is kindled on thy lips", "Most gracious; but she, haughty ev'n to him,", "Lancelot; for I have seen him wan enow", "To make one doubt if ever the great Queen", "Have yielded him her love.\"", "", "", "To whom Isolt,", "\"Ah then, false hunter and false harper, thou", "Who brakest thro' the scruple of my bond,", "Calling me thy white hind, and saying to me", "That Guinevere had sinn'd against the highest,", "And I--misyoked with such a want of man--", "That I could hardly sin against the lowest.\"", "", "", "He answer'd, \"O my soul, be comforted!", "If this be sweet, to sin in leading-strings,", "If here be comfort, and if ours be sin,", "Crown'd warrant had we for the crowning sin", "That made us happy: but how ye greet me--fear", "And fault and doubt--no word of that fond tale--", "Thy deep heart-yearnings, thy sweet memories", "Of Tristram in that year he was away.\"", "", "", "And, saddening on the sudden, spake Isolt,", "\"I had forgotten all in my strong joy", "To see thee--yearnings?--ay! for, hour by hour,", "Here in the never-ended afternoon,", "O sweeter than all memories of thee,", "Deeper than any yearnings after thee", "Seem'd those far-rolling, westward-smiling seas,", "Watch'd from this tower. Isolt of Britain dash'd", "Before Isolt of Brittany on the strand,", "Would that have chill'd her bride-kiss? Wedded her?", "Fought in her father's battles? wounded there?", "The King was all fulfill'd with gratefulness,", "And she, my namesake of the hands, that heal'd", "Thy hurt and heart with unguent and caress--", "Well--can I wish her any huger wrong", "Than having known thee? her too hast thou left", "To pine and waste in those sweet memories.", "O were I not my Mark's, by whom all men", "Are noble, I should hate thee more than love.\"", "", "", "And Tristram, fondling her light hands, replied,", "\"Grace, Queen, for being loved: she loved me well.", "Did I love her? the name at least I loved.", "Isolt?--I fought his battles, for Isolt!", "The night was dark; the true star set. Isolt!", "The name was ruler of the dark--Isolt?", "Care not for her! patient, and prayerful, meek,", "Pale-blooded, she will yield herself to God.\"", "", "", "And Isolt answer'd, \"Yea, and why not I?", "Mine is the larger need, who am not meek,", "Pale-blooded, prayerful. Let me tell thee now.", "Here one black, mute midsummer night I sat,", "Lonely, but musing on thee, wondering where,", "Murmuring a light song I had heard thee sing,", "And once or twice I spake thy name aloud.", "Then flash'd a levin-brand; and near me stood,", "In fuming sulphur blue and green, a fiend--", "Mark's way to steal behind one in the dark--", "For there was Mark: 'He has wedded her,' he said,", "Not said, but hiss'd it: then this crown of towers", "So shook to such a roar of all the sky,", "That here in utter dark I swoon'd away,", "And woke again in utter dark, and cried,", "'I will flee hence and give myself to God'--", "And thou wert lying in thy new leman's arms.\"", "", "", "Then Tristram, ever dallying with her hand,", "\"May God be with thee, sweet, when old and gray,", "And past desire!\" a saying that anger'd her.'", "\"`May God be with thee, sweet, when thou art old,", "And sweet no more to me!' I need Him now.", "For when had Lancelot utter'd aught so gross", "Ev'n to the swineherd's malkin in the mast?", "The greater man, the greater courtesy.", "Far other was the Tristram, Arthur's knight!", "But thou, thro' ever harrying thy wild beasts--", "Save that to touch a harp, tilt with a lance", "Becomes thee well--art grown wild beast thyself.", "How darest thou, if lover, push me even", "In fancy from thy side, and set me far", "In the gray distance, half a life away,", "Her to be loved no more? Unsay it, unswear!", "Flatter me rather, seeing me so weak,", "Broken with Mark and hate and solitude,", "Thy marriage and mine own, that I should suck", "Lies like sweet wines: lie to me: I believe.", "Will ye not lie? not swear, as there ye kneel,", "And solemnly as when ye sware to him", "The man of men, our King--My God, the power", "Was once in vows when men believed the King!", "They lied not then, who sware, and thro' their vows", "The King prevailing made his realm:--I say,", "Swear to me thou wilt love me ev'n when old,", "Gray-hair'd, and past desire, and in despair.\"", "", "", "Then Tristram, pacing moodily up and down,", "\"Vows! did you keep the vow you made to Mark", "More than I mine? Lied, say ye? Nay, but learnt,", "The vow that binds too strictly snaps itself--", "My knighthood taught me this--ay, being snapt--", "We run more counter to the soul thereof", "Than had we never sworn. I swear no more.", "I swore to the great King, and am forsworn.", "For once--ev'n to the height--I honour'd him.", "'Man, is he man at all?' methought, when first", "I rode from our rough Lyonnesse, and beheld", "That victor of the Pagan throned in hall--", "His hair, a sun that ray'd from off a brow", "Like hillsnow high in heaven, the steel-blue eyes,", "The golden beard that clothed his lips with light--", "Moreover, that weird legend of his birth,", "With Merlin's mystic babble about his end", "Amazed me; then his foot was on a stool", "Shaped as a dragon; he seem'd to me no man,", "But Michaël trampling Satan; so I sware,", "Being amazed: but this went by--The vows!", "O ay--the wholesome madness of an hour--", "They served their use, their time; for every knight", "Believed himself a greater than himself,", "And every follower eyed him as a God;", "Till he, being lifted up beyond himself,", "Did mightier deeds than elsewise he had done,", "And so the realm was made; but then their vows--", "First mainly thro' that sullying of our Queen--", "Began to gall the knighthood, asking whence", "Had Arthur right to bind them to himself?", "Dropt down from heaven? wash'd up from out the deep?", "They fail'd to trace him thro' the flesh and blood", "Of our old kings: whence then? a doubtful lord", "To bind them by inviolable vows,", "Which flesh and blood perforce would violate:", "For feel this arm of mine--the tide within", "Red with free chase and heather-scented air,", "Pulsing full man; can Arthur make me pure", "As any maiden child? lock up my tongue", "From uttering freely what I freely hear?", "Bind me to one? The wide world laughs at it.", "And worldling of the world am I, and know", "The ptarmigan that whitens ere his hour", "Woos his own end; we are not angels here", "Nor shall be: vows--I am woodman of the woods,", "And hear the garnet-headed yaffingale", "Mock them: my soul, we love but while we may;", "And therefore is my love so large for thee,", "Seeing it is not bounded save by love.\"", "", "", "Here ending, he moved toward her, and she said,", "\"Good: an I turn'd away my love for thee", "To some one thrice as courteous as thyself--", "For courtesy wins woman all as well", "As valour may, but he that closes both", "Is perfect, he is Lancelot--taller indeed,", "Rosier and comelier, thou--but say I loved", "This knightliest of all knights, and cast thee back", "Thine own small saw, 'We love but while we may,'", "Well then, what answer?\" He that while she spake,", "Mindful of what he brought to adorn her with,", "The jewels, had let one finger lightly touch", "The warm white apple of her throat, replied,", "\"Press this a little closer, sweet, until--", "Come, I am hunger'd and half-anger'd--meat,", "Wine, wine--and I will love thee to the death,", "And out beyond into the dream to come.\"", "", "", "So then, when both were brought to full accord,", "She rose, and set before him all he will'd;", "And after these had comforted the blood", "With meats and wines, and satiated their hearts--", "Now talking of their woodland paradise,", "The deer, the dews, the fern, the founts, the lawns;", "Now mocking at the much ungainliness,", "And craven shifts, and long crane legs of Mark--", "Then Tristram laughing caught the harp, and sang:", "", "", "\"Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that bend the brier!", "A star in heaven, a star within the mere!", "Ay, ay, O ay--a star was my desire,", "And one was far apart, and one was near:", "Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that bow the grass!", "And one was water and one star was fire,", "And one will ever shine and one will pass.", "Ay, ay, O ay--the winds that move the mere.\"", "", "", "Then in the light's last glimmer Tristram show'd", "And swung the ruby carcanet. She cried,", "\"The collar of some Order, which our King", "Hath newly founded, all for thee, my soul,", "For thee, to yield thee grace beyond thy peers.\"", "", "", "\"Not so, my Queen,\" he said, \"but the red fruit", "Grown on a magic oak-tree in mid-heaven,", "And won by Tristram as a tourney-prize,", "And hither brought by Tristram for his last", "Love-offering and peace-offering unto thee.\"", "", "", "He spoke, he turn'd, then, flinging round her neck,", "Claspt it, and cried \"Thine Order, O my Queen!\"", "But, while he bow'd to kiss the jewell'd throat,", "Out of the dark, just as the lips had touch'd,", "Behind him rose a shadow and a shriek--", "\"Mark's way,\" said Mark, and clove him thro' the brain.", "", "", "That night came Arthur home, and while he climb'd,", "All in a death-dumb autumn-dripping gloom,", "The stairway to the hall, and look'd and saw", "The great Queen's bower was dark,--about his feet", "A voice clung sobbing till he question'd it,", "\"What art thou?\" and the voice about his feet", "Sent up an answer, sobbing, \"I am thy fool,", "And I shall never make thee smile again.\"" ], "linecount": "757" }, { "title": "Pelleas and Ettarre", "author": "Lord Alfred Tennyson", "lines": [ "King Arthur made new knights to fill the gap", "Left by the Holy Quest; and as he sat", "In hall at old Caerleon, the high doors", "Were softly sundered, and through these a youth,", "Pelleas, and the sweet smell of the fields", "Past, and the sunshine came along with him.", "", "`Make me thy knight, because I know, Sir King,", "All that belongs to knighthood, and I love.'", "Such was his cry: for having heard the King", "Had let proclaim a tournament--the prize", "A golden circlet and a knightly sword,", "Full fain had Pelleas for his lady won", "The golden circlet, for himself the sword:", "And there were those who knew him near the King,", "And promised for him: and Arthur made him knight.", "", "And this new knight, Sir Pelleas of the isles--", "But lately come to his inheritance,", "And lord of many a barren isle was he--", "Riding at noon, a day or twain before,", "Across the forest called of Dean, to find", "Caerleon and the King, had felt the sun", "Beat like a strong knight on his helm, and reeled", "Almost to falling from his horse; but saw", "Near him a mound of even-sloping side,", "Whereon a hundred stately beeches grew,", "And here and there great hollies under them;", "But for a mile all round was open space,", "And fern and heath: and slowly Pelleas drew", "To that dim day, then binding his good horse", "To a tree, cast himself down; and as he lay", "At random looking over the brown earth", "Through that green-glooming twilight of the grove,", "It seemed to Pelleas that the fern without", "Burnt as a living fire of emeralds,", "So that his eyes were dazzled looking at it.", "Then o'er it crost the dimness of a cloud", "Floating, and once the shadow of a bird", "Flying, and then a fawn; and his eyes closed.", "And since he loved all maidens, but no maid", "In special, half-awake he whispered, `Where?", "O where? I love thee, though I know thee not.", "For fair thou art and pure as Guinevere,", "And I will make thee with my spear and sword", "As famous--O my Queen, my Guinevere,", "For I will be thine Arthur when we meet.'", "", "Suddenly wakened with a sound of talk", "And laughter at the limit of the wood,", "And glancing through the hoary boles, he saw,", "Strange as to some old prophet might have seemed", "A vision hovering on a sea of fire,", "Damsels in divers colours like the cloud", "Of sunset and sunrise, and all of them", "On horses, and the horses richly trapt", "Breast-high in that bright line of bracken stood:", "And all the damsels talked confusedly,", "And one was pointing this way, and one that,", "Because the way was lost.", "", "And Pelleas rose,", "And loosed his horse, and led him to the light.", "There she that seemed the chief among them said,", "`In happy time behold our pilot-star!", "Youth, we are damsels-errant, and we ride,", "Armed as ye see, to tilt against the knights", "There at Caerleon, but have lost our way:", "To right? to left? straight forward? back again?", "Which? tell us quickly.'", "", "Pelleas gazing thought,", "`Is Guinevere herself so beautiful?'", "For large her violet eyes looked, and her bloom", "A rosy dawn kindled in stainless heavens,", "And round her limbs, mature in womanhood;", "And slender was her hand and small her shape;", "And but for those large eyes, the haunts of scorn,", "She might have seemed a toy to trifle with,", "And pass and care no more. But while he gazed", "The beauty of her flesh abashed the boy,", "As though it were the beauty of her soul:", "For as the base man, judging of the good,", "Puts his own baseness in him by default", "Of will and nature, so did Pelleas lend", "All the young beauty of his own soul to hers,", "Believing her; and when she spake to him,", "Stammered, and could not make her a reply.", "For out of the waste islands had he come,", "Where saving his own sisters he had known", "Scarce any but the women of his isles,", "Rough wives, that laughed and screamed against the gulls,", "Makers of nets, and living from the sea.", "", "Then with a slow smile turned the lady round", "And looked upon her people; and as when", "A stone is flung into some sleeping tarn,", "The circle widens till it lip the marge,", "Spread the slow smile through all her company.", "Three knights were thereamong; and they too smiled,", "Scorning him; for the lady was Ettarre,", "And she was a great lady in her land.", "", "Again she said, `O wild and of the woods,", "Knowest thou not the fashion of our speech?", "Or have the Heavens but given thee a fair face,", "Lacking a tongue?'", "", "`O damsel,' answered he,", "`I woke from dreams; and coming out of gloom", "Was dazzled by the sudden light, and crave", "Pardon: but will ye to Caerleon? I", "Go likewise: shall I lead you to the King?'", "", "`Lead then,' she said; and through the woods they went.", "And while they rode, the meaning in his eyes,", "His tenderness of manner, and chaste awe,", "His broken utterances and bashfulness,", "Were all a burthen to her, and in her heart", "She muttered, `I have lighted on a fool,", "Raw, yet so stale!' But since her mind was bent", "On hearing, after trumpet blown, her name", "And title, `Queen of Beauty,' in the lists", "Cried--and beholding him so strong, she thought", "That peradventure he will fight for me,", "And win the circlet: therefore flattered him,", "Being so gracious, that he wellnigh deemed", "His wish by hers was echoed; and her knights", "And all her damsels too were gracious to him,", "For she was a great lady.", "", "And when they reached", "Caerleon, ere they past to lodging, she,", "Taking his hand, `O the strong hand,' she said,", "`See! look at mine! but wilt thou fight for me,", "And win me this fine circlet, Pelleas,", "That I may love thee?'", "", "Then his helpless heart", "Leapt, and he cried, `Ay! wilt thou if I win?'", "`Ay, that will I,' she answered, and she laughed,", "And straitly nipt the hand, and flung it from her;", "Then glanced askew at those three knights of hers,", "Till all her ladies laughed along with her.", "", "`O happy world,' thought Pelleas, `all, meseems,", "Are happy; I the happiest of them all.'", "Nor slept that night for pleasure in his blood,", "And green wood-ways, and eyes among the leaves;", "Then being on the morrow knighted, sware", "To love one only. And as he came away,", "The men who met him rounded on their heels", "And wondered after him, because his face", "Shone like the countenance of a priest of old", "Against the flame about a sacrifice", "Kindled by fire from heaven: so glad was he.", "", "Then Arthur made vast banquets, and strange knights", "From the four winds came in: and each one sat,", "Though served with choice from air, land, stream, and sea,", "Oft in mid-banquet measuring with his eyes", "His neighbour's make and might: and Pelleas looked", "Noble among the noble, for he dreamed", "His lady loved him, and he knew himself", "Loved of the King: and him his new-made knight", "Worshipt, whose lightest whisper moved him more", "Than all the rangd reasons of the world.", "", "Then blushed and brake the morning of the jousts,", "And this was called `The Tournament of Youth:'", "For Arthur, loving his young knight, withheld", "His older and his mightier from the lists,", "That Pelleas might obtain his lady's love,", "According to her promise, and remain", "Lord of the tourney. And Arthur had the jousts", "Down in the flat field by the shore of Usk", "Holden: the gilded parapets were crowned", "With faces, and the great tower filled with eyes", "Up to the summit, and the trumpets blew.", "There all day long Sir Pelleas kept the field", "With honour: so by that strong hand of his", "The sword and golden circlet were achieved.", "", "Then rang the shout his lady loved: the heat", "Of pride and glory fired her face; her eye", "Sparkled; she caught the circlet from his lance,", "And there before the people crowned herself:", "So for the last time she was gracious to him.", "", "Then at Caerleon for a space--her look", "Bright for all others, cloudier on her knight--", "Lingered Ettarre: and seeing Pelleas droop,", "Said Guinevere, `We marvel at thee much,", "O damsel, wearing this unsunny face", "To him who won thee glory!' And she said,", "`Had ye not held your Lancelot in your bower,", "My Queen, he had not won.' Whereat the Queen,", "As one whose foot is bitten by an ant,", "Glanced down upon her, turned and went her way.", "", "But after, when her damsels, and herself,", "And those three knights all set their faces home,", "Sir Pelleas followed. She that saw him cried,", "`Damsels--and yet I should be shamed to say it--", "I cannot bide Sir Baby. Keep him back", "Among yourselves. Would rather that we had", "Some rough old knight who knew the worldly way,", "Albeit grizzlier than a bear, to ride", "And jest with: take him to you, keep him off,", "And pamper him with papmeat, if ye will,", "Old milky fables of the wolf and sheep,", "Such as the wholesome mothers tell their boys.", "Nay, should ye try him with a merry one", "To find his mettle, good: and if he fly us,", "Small matter! let him.' This her damsels heard,", "And mindful of her small and cruel hand,", "They, closing round him through the journey home,", "Acted her hest, and always from her side", "Restrained him with all manner of device,", "So that he could not come to speech with her.", "And when she gained her castle, upsprang the bridge,", "Down rang the grate of iron through the groove,", "And he was left alone in open field.", "", "`These be the ways of ladies,' Pelleas thought,", "`To those who love them, trials of our faith.", "Yea, let her prove me to the uttermost,", "For loyal to the uttermost am I.'", "So made his moan; and darkness falling, sought", "A priory not far off, there lodged, but rose", "With morning every day, and, moist or dry,", "Full-armed upon his charger all day long", "Sat by the walls, and no one opened to him.", "", "And this persistence turned her scorn to wrath.", "Then calling her three knights, she charged them, `Out!", "And drive him from the walls.' And out they came", "But Pelleas overthrew them as they dashed", "Against him one by one; and these returned,", "But still he kept his watch beneath the wall.", "", "Thereon her wrath became a hate; and once,", "A week beyond, while walking on the walls", "With her three knights, she pointed downward, `Look,", "He haunts me--I cannot breathe--besieges me;", "Down! strike him! put my hate into your strokes,", "And drive him from my walls.' And down they went,", "And Pelleas overthrew them one by one;", "And from the tower above him cried Ettarre,", "`Bind him, and bring him in.'", "", "He heard her voice;", "Then let the strong hand, which had overthrown", "Her minion-knights, by those he overthrew", "Be bounden straight, and so they brought him in.", "", "Then when he came before Ettarre, the sight", "Of her rich beauty made him at one glance", "More bondsman in his heart than in his bonds.", "Yet with good cheer he spake, `Behold me, Lady,", "A prisoner, and the vassal of thy will;", "And if thou keep me in thy donjon here,", "Content am I so that I see thy face", "But once a day: for I have sworn my vows,", "And thou hast given thy promise, and I know", "That all these pains are trials of my faith,", "And that thyself, when thou hast seen me strained", "And sifted to the utmost, wilt at length", "Yield me thy love and know me for thy knight.'", "", "Then she began to rail so bitterly,", "With all her damsels, he was stricken mute;", "But when she mocked his vows and the great King,", "Lighted on words: `For pity of thine own self,", "Peace, Lady, peace: is he not thine and mine?'", "`Thou fool,' she said, `I never heard his voice", "But longed to break away. Unbind him now,", "And thrust him out of doors; for save he be", "Fool to the midmost marrow of his bones,", "He will return no more.' And those, her three,", "Laughed, and unbound, and thrust him from the gate.", "", "And after this, a week beyond, again", "She called them, saying, `There he watches yet,", "There like a dog before his master's door!", "Kicked, he returns: do ye not hate him, ye?", "Ye know yourselves: how can ye bide at peace,", "Affronted with his fulsome innocence?", "Are ye but creatures of the board and bed,", "No men to strike? Fall on him all at once,", "And if ye slay him I reck not: if ye fail,", "Give ye the slave mine order to be bound,", "Bind him as heretofore, and bring him in:", "It may be ye shall slay him in his bonds.'", "", "She spake; and at her will they couched their spears,", "Three against one: and Gawain passing by,", "Bound upon solitary adventure, saw", "Low down beneath the shadow of those towers", "A villainy, three to one: and through his heart", "The fire of honour and all noble deeds", "Flashed, and he called, `I strike upon thy side--", "The caitiffs!' `Nay,' said Pelleas, `but forbear;", "He needs no aid who doth his lady's will.'", "", "So Gawain, looking at the villainy done,", "Forbore, but in his heat and eagerness", "Trembled and quivered, as the dog, withheld", "A moment from the vermin that he sees", "Before him, shivers, ere he springs and kills.", "", "And Pelleas overthrew them, one to three;", "And they rose up, and bound, and brought him in.", "Then first her anger, leaving Pelleas, burned", "Full on her knights in many an evil name", "Of craven, weakling, and thrice-beaten hound:", "`Yet, take him, ye that scarce are fit to touch,", "Far less to bind, your victor, and thrust him out,", "And let who will release him from his bonds.", "And if he comes again'--there she brake short;", "And Pelleas answered, `Lady, for indeed", "I loved you and I deemed you beautiful,", "I cannot brook to see your beauty marred", "Through evil spite: and if ye love me not,", "I cannot bear to dream you so forsworn:", "I had liefer ye were worthy of my love,", "Than to be loved again of you--farewell;", "And though ye kill my hope, not yet my love,", "Vex not yourself: ye will not see me more.'", "", "While thus he spake, she gazed upon the man", "Of princely bearing, though in bonds, and thought,", "`Why have I pushed him from me? this man loves,", "If love there be: yet him I loved not. Why?", "I deemed him fool? yea, so? or that in him", "A something--was it nobler than myself?", "Seemed my reproach? He is not of my kind.", "He could not love me, did he know me well.", "Nay, let him go--and quickly.' And her knights", "Laughed not, but thrust him bounden out of door.", "", "Forth sprang Gawain, and loosed him from his bonds,", "And flung them o'er the walls; and afterward,", "Shaking his hands, as from a lazar's rag,", "`Faith of my body,' he said, `and art thou not--", "Yea thou art he, whom late our Arthur made", "Knight of his table; yea and he that won", "The circlet? wherefore hast thou so defamed", "Thy brotherhood in me and all the rest,", "As let these caitiffs on thee work their will?'", "", "And Pelleas answered, `O, their wills are hers", "For whom I won the circlet; and mine, hers,", "Thus to be bounden, so to see her face,", "Marred though it be with spite and mockery now,", "Other than when I found her in the woods;", "And though she hath me bounden but in spite,", "And all to flout me, when they bring me in,", "Let me be bounden, I shall see her face;", "Else must I die through mine unhappiness.'", "", "And Gawain answered kindly though in scorn,", "`Why, let my lady bind me if she will,", "And let my lady beat me if she will:", "But an she send her delegate to thrall", "These fighting hands of mine--Christ kill me then", "But I will slice him handless by the wrist,", "And let my lady sear the stump for him,", "Howl as he may. But hold me for your friend:", "Come, ye know nothing: here I pledge my troth,", "Yea, by the honour of the Table Round,", "I will be leal to thee and work thy work,", "And tame thy jailing princess to thine hand.", "Lend me thine horse and arms, and I will say", "That I have slain thee. She will let me in", "To hear the manner of thy fight and fall;", "Then, when I come within her counsels, then", "From prime to vespers will I chant thy praise", "As prowest knight and truest lover, more", "Than any have sung thee living, till she long", "To have thee back in lusty life again,", "Not to be bound, save by white bonds and warm,", "Dearer than freedom. Wherefore now thy horse", "And armour: let me go: be comforted:", "Give me three days to melt her fancy, and hope", "The third night hence will bring thee news of gold.'", "", "Then Pelleas lent his horse and all his arms,", "Saving the goodly sword, his prize, and took", "Gawain's, and said, `Betray me not, but help--", "Art thou not he whom men call light-of-love?'", "", "`Ay,' said Gawain, `for women be so light.'", "Then bounded forward to the castle walls,", "And raised a bugle hanging from his neck,", "And winded it, and that so musically", "That all the old echoes hidden in the wall", "Rang out like hollow woods at hunting-tide.", "", "Up ran a score of damsels to the tower;", "`Avaunt,' they cried, `our lady loves thee not.'", "But Gawain lifting up his vizor said,", "`Gawain am I, Gawain of Arthur's court,", "And I have slain this Pelleas whom ye hate:", "Behold his horse and armour. Open gates,", "And I will make you merry.'", "", "And down they ran,", "Her damsels, crying to their lady, `Lo!", "Pelleas is dead--he told us--he that hath", "His horse and armour: will ye let him in?", "He slew him! Gawain, Gawain of the court,", "Sir Gawain--there he waits below the wall,", "Blowing his bugle as who should say him nay.'", "", "And so, leave given, straight on through open door", "Rode Gawain, whom she greeted courteously.", "`Dead, is it so?' she asked. `Ay, ay,' said he,", "`And oft in dying cried upon your name.'", "`Pity on him,' she answered, `a good knight,", "But never let me bide one hour at peace.'", "`Ay,' thought Gawain, `and you be fair enow:", "But I to your dead man have given my troth,", "That whom ye loathe, him will I make you love.'", "", "So those three days, aimless about the land,", "Lost in a doubt, Pelleas wandering", "Waited, until the third night brought a moon", "With promise of large light on woods and ways.", "", "Hot was the night and silent; but a sound", "Of Gawain ever coming, and this lay--", "Which Pelleas had heard sung before the Queen,", "And seen her sadden listening--vext his heart,", "And marred his rest--`A worm within the rose.'", "", "`A rose, but one, none other rose had I,", "A rose, one rose, and this was wondrous fair,", "One rose, a rose that gladdened earth and sky,", "One rose, my rose, that sweetened all mine air--", "I cared not for the thorns; the thorns were there.", "", "`One rose, a rose to gather by and by,", "One rose, a rose, to gather and to wear,", "No rose but one--what other rose had I?", "One rose, my rose; a rose that will not die,--", "He dies who loves it,--if the worm be there.'", "", "This tender rhyme, and evermore the doubt,", "`Why lingers Gawain with his golden news?'", "So shook him that he could not rest, but rode", "Ere midnight to her walls, and bound his horse", "Hard by the gates. Wide open were the gates,", "And no watch kept; and in through these he past,", "And heard but his own steps, and his own heart", "Beating, for nothing moved but his own self,", "And his own shadow. Then he crost the court,", "And spied not any light in hall or bower,", "But saw the postern portal also wide", "Yawning; and up a slope of garden, all", "Of roses white and red, and brambles mixt", "And overgrowing them, went on, and found,", "Here too, all hushed below the mellow moon,", "Save that one rivulet from a tiny cave", "Came lightening downward, and so spilt itself", "Among the roses, and was lost again.", "", "Then was he ware of three pavilions reared", "Above the bushes, gilden-peakt: in one,", "Red after revel, droned her lurdane knights", "Slumbering, and their three squires across their feet:", "In one, their malice on the placid lip", "Frozen by sweet sleep, four of her damsels lay:", "And in the third, the circlet of the jousts", "Bound on her brow, were Gawain and Ettarre.", "", "Back, as a hand that pushes through the leaf", "To find a nest and feels a snake, he drew:", "Back, as a coward slinks from what he fears", "To cope with, or a traitor proven, or hound", "Beaten, did Pelleas in an utter shame", "Creep with his shadow through the court again,", "Fingering at his sword-handle until he stood", "There on the castle-bridge once more, and thought,", "`I will go back, and slay them where they lie.'", "", "And so went back, and seeing them yet in sleep", "Said, `Ye, that so dishallow the holy sleep,", "Your sleep is death,' and drew the sword, and thought,", "`What! slay a sleeping knight? the King hath bound", "And sworn me to this brotherhood;' again,", "`Alas that ever a knight should be so false.'", "Then turned, and so returned, and groaning laid", "The naked sword athwart their naked throats,", "There left it, and them sleeping; and she lay,", "The circlet of her tourney round her brows,", "And the sword of the tourney across her throat.", "", "And forth he past, and mounting on his horse", "Stared at her towers that, larger than themselves", "In their own darkness, thronged into the moon.", "Then crushed the saddle with his thighs, and clenched", "His hands, and maddened with himself and moaned:", "", "`Would they have risen against me in their blood", "At the last day? I might have answered them", "Even before high God. O towers so strong,", "Huge, solid, would that even while I gaze", "The crack of earthquake shivering to your base", "Split you, and Hell burst up your harlot roofs", "Bellowing, and charred you through and through within,", "Black as the harlot's heart--hollow as a skull!", "Let the fierce east scream through your eyelet-holes,", "And whirl the dust of harlots round and round", "In dung and nettles! hiss, snake--I saw him there--", "Let the fox bark, let the wolf yell. Who yells", "Here in the still sweet summer night, but I--", "I, the poor Pelleas whom she called her fool?", "Fool, beast--he, she, or I? myself most fool;", "Beast too, as lacking human wit--disgraced,", "Dishonoured all for trial of true love--", "Love?--we be all alike: only the King", "Hath made us fools and liars. O noble vows!", "O great and sane and simple race of brutes", "That own no lust because they have no law!", "For why should I have loved her to my shame?", "I loathe her, as I loved her to my shame.", "I never loved her, I but lusted for her--", "Away--'", "He dashed the rowel into his horse,", "And bounded forth and vanished through the night.", "", "Then she, that felt the cold touch on her throat,", "Awaking knew the sword, and turned herself", "To Gawain: `Liar, for thou hast not slain", "This Pelleas! here he stood, and might have slain", "Me and thyself.' And he that tells the tale", "Says that her ever-veering fancy turned", "To Pelleas, as the one true knight on earth,", "And only lover; and through her love her life", "Wasted and pined, desiring him in vain.", "", "But he by wild and way, for half the night,", "And over hard and soft, striking the sod", "From out the soft, the spark from off the hard,", "Rode till the star above the wakening sun,", "Beside that tower where Percivale was cowled,", "Glanced from the rosy forehead of the dawn.", "For so the words were flashed into his heart", "He knew not whence or wherefore: `O sweet star,", "Pure on the virgin forehead of the dawn!'", "And there he would have wept, but felt his eyes", "Harder and drier than a fountain bed", "In summer: thither came the village girls", "And lingered talking, and they come no more", "Till the sweet heavens have filled it from the heights", "Again with living waters in the change", "Of seasons: hard his eyes; harder his heart", "Seemed; but so weary were his limbs, that he,", "Gasping, `Of Arthur's hall am I, but here,", "Here let me rest and die,' cast himself down,", "And gulfed his griefs in inmost sleep; so lay,", "Till shaken by a dream, that Gawain fired", "The hall of Merlin, and the morning star", "Reeled in the smoke, brake into flame, and fell.", "", "He woke, and being ware of some one nigh,", "Sent hands upon him, as to tear him, crying,", "`False! and I held thee pure as Guinevere.'", "", "But Percivale stood near him and replied,", "`Am I but false as Guinevere is pure?", "Or art thou mazed with dreams? or being one", "Of our free-spoken Table hast not heard", "That Lancelot'--there he checked himself and paused.", "", "Then fared it with Sir Pelleas as with one", "Who gets a wound in battle, and the sword", "That made it plunges through the wound again,", "And pricks it deeper: and he shrank and wailed,", "`Is the Queen false?' and Percivale was mute.", "`Have any of our Round Table held their vows?'", "And Percivale made answer not a word.", "`Is the King true?' `The King!' said Percivale.", "`Why then let men couple at once with wolves.", "What! art thou mad?'", "", "But Pelleas, leaping up,", "Ran through the doors and vaulted on his horse", "And fled: small pity upon his horse had he,", "Or on himself, or any, and when he met", "A cripple, one that held a hand for alms--", "Hunched as he was, and like an old dwarf-elm", "That turns its back upon the salt blast, the boy", "Paused not, but overrode him, shouting, `False,", "And false with Gawain!' and so left him bruised", "And battered, and fled on, and hill and wood", "Went ever streaming by him till the gloom,", "That follows on the turning of the world,", "Darkened the common path: he twitched the reins,", "And made his beast that better knew it, swerve", "Now off it and now on; but when he saw", "High up in heaven the hall that Merlin built,", "Blackening against the dead-green stripes of even,", "`Black nest of rats,' he groaned, `ye build too high.'", "", "Not long thereafter from the city gates", "Issued Sir Lancelot riding airily,", "Warm with a gracious parting from the Queen,", "Peace at his heart, and gazing at a star", "And marvelling what it was: on whom the boy,", "Across the silent seeded meadow-grass", "Borne, clashed: and Lancelot, saying, `What name hast thou", "That ridest here so blindly and so hard?'", "`No name, no name,' he shouted, `a scourge am I", "To lash the treasons of the Table Round.'", "`Yea, but thy name?' `I have many names,' he cried:", "`I am wrath and shame and hate and evil fame,", "And like a poisonous wind I pass to blast", "And blaze the crime of Lancelot and the Queen.'", "`First over me,' said Lancelot, `shalt thou pass.'", "`Fight therefore,' yelled the youth, and either knight", "Drew back a space, and when they closed, at once", "The weary steed of Pelleas floundering flung", "His rider, who called out from the dark field,", "`Thou art as false as Hell: slay me: I have no sword.'", "Then Lancelot, `Yea, between thy lips--and sharp;", "But here I will disedge it by thy death.'", "`Slay then,' he shrieked, `my will is to be slain,'", "And Lancelot, with his heel upon the fallen,", "Rolling his eyes, a moment stood, then spake:", "`Rise, weakling; I am Lancelot; say thy say.'", "", "And Lancelot slowly rode his warhorse back", "To Camelot, and Sir Pelleas in brief while", "Caught his unbroken limbs from the dark field,", "And followed to the city. It chanced that both", "Brake into hall together, worn and pale.", "There with her knights and dames was Guinevere.", "Full wonderingly she gazed on Lancelot", "So soon returned, and then on Pelleas, him", "Who had not greeted her, but cast himself", "Down on a bench, hard-breathing. `Have ye fought?'", "She asked of Lancelot. `Ay, my Queen,' he said.", "`And hast thou overthrown him?' `Ay, my Queen.'", "Then she, turning to Pelleas, `O young knight,", "Hath the great heart of knighthood in thee failed", "So far thou canst not bide, unfrowardly,", "A fall from HIM?' Then, for he answered not,", "`Or hast thou other griefs? If I, the Queen,", "May help them, loose thy tongue, and let me know.'", "But Pelleas lifted up an eye so fierce", "She quailed; and he, hissing `I have no sword,'", "Sprang from the door into the dark. The Queen", "Looked hard upon her lover, he on her;", "And each foresaw the dolorous day to be:", "And all talk died, as in a grove all song", "Beneath the shadow of some bird of prey;", "Then a long silence came upon the hall,", "And Modred thought, `The time is hard at hand.'" ], "linecount": "606" }, { "title": "Come Home!", "author": "Mary Elizabeth Coleridge", "lines": [ "When wintry winds are no more heard,", "And joy's in every bosom,", "When summer sings in every bird,", "And shines in every blossom,", "When happy twilight hours are long,", "Come home, my love, and think no wrong!", "", "When berries gleam above the stream", "And half the fields are yellow,", "Come back to me, my joyous dream,", "The world hath not thy fellow!", "And I will make thee Queen among", "The Queens of summer and of song." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Charmides", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "I.", "", "He was a Grecian lad, who coming home", "With pulpy figs and wine from Sicily", "Stood at his galley's prow, and let the foam", "Blow through his crisp brown curls unconsciously,", "And holding wave and wind in boy's despite", "Peered from his dripping seat across the wet and stormy night.", "", "Till with the dawn he saw a burnished spear", "Like a thin thread of gold against the sky,", "And hoisted sail, and strained the creaking gear,", "And bade the pilot head her lustily", "Against the nor'west gale, and all day long", "Held on his way, and marked the rowers' time with measured song.", "", "And when the faint Corinthian hills were red", "Dropped anchor in a little sandy bay,", "And with fresh boughs of olive crowned his head,", "And brushed from cheek and throat the hoary spray,", "And washed his limbs with oil, and from the hold", "Brought out his linen tunic and his sandals brazen-soled,", "", "And a rich robe stained with the fishers' juice", "Which of some swarthy trader he had bought", "Upon the sunny quay at Syracuse,", "And was with Tyrian broideries inwrought,", "And by the questioning merchants made his way", "Up through the soft and silver woods, and when the labouring day", "", "Had spun its tangled web of crimson cloud,", "Clomb the high hill, and with swift silent feet", "Crept to the fane unnoticed by the crowd", "Of busy priests, and from some dark retreat", "Watched the young swains his frolic playmates bring", "The firstling of their little flock, and the shy shepherd fling", "", "The crackling salt upon the flame, or hang", "His studded crook against the temple wall", "To Her who keeps away the ravenous fang", "Of the base wolf from homestead and from stall;", "And then the clear-voiced maidens 'gan to sing,", "And to the altar each man brought some goodly offering,", "", "A beechen cup brimming with milky foam,", "A fair cloth wrought with cunning imagery", "Of hounds in chase, a waxen honey-comb", "Dripping with oozy gold which scarce the bee", "Had ceased from building, a black skin of oil", "Meet for the wrestlers, a great boar the fierce and white-tusked", "spoil", "", "Stolen from Artemis that jealous maid", "To please Athena, and the dappled hide", "Of a tall stag who in some mountain glade", "Had met the shaft; and then the herald cried,", "And from the pillared precinct one by one", "Went the glad Greeks well pleased that they their simple vows had", "done.", "", "And the old priest put out the waning fires", "Save that one lamp whose restless ruby glowed", "For ever in the cell, and the shrill lyres", "Came fainter on the wind, as down the road", "In joyous dance these country folk did pass,", "And with stout hands the warder closed the gates of polished brass.", "", "Long time he lay and hardly dared to breathe,", "And heard the cadenced drip of spilt-out wine,", "And the rose-petals falling from the wreath", "As the night breezes wandered through the shrine,", "And seemed to be in some entranced swoon", "Till through the open roof above the full and brimming moon", "", "Flooded with sheeny waves the marble floor,", "When from his nook up leapt the venturous lad,", "And flinging wide the cedar-carven door", "Beheld an awful image saffron-clad", "And armed for battle! the gaunt Griffin glared", "From the huge helm, and the long lance of wreck and ruin flared", "", "Like a red rod of flame, stony and steeled", "The Gorgon's head its leaden eyeballs rolled,", "And writhed its snaky horrors through the shield,", "And gaped aghast with bloodless lips and cold", "In passion impotent, while with blind gaze", "The blinking owl between the feet hooted in shrill amaze.", "", "The lonely fisher as he trimmed his lamp", "Far out at sea off Sunium, or cast", "The net for tunnies, heard a brazen tramp", "Of horses smite the waves, and a wild blast", "Divide the folded curtains of the night,", "And knelt upon the little poop, and prayed in holy fright.", "", "And guilty lovers in their venery", "Forgat a little while their stolen sweets,", "Deeming they heard dread Dian's bitter cry;", "And the grim watchmen on their lofty seats", "Ran to their shields in haste precipitate,", "Or strained black-bearded throats across the dusky parapet.", "", "For round the temple rolled the clang of arms,", "And the twelve Gods leapt up in marble fear,", "And the air quaked with dissonant alarums", "Till huge Poseidon shook his mighty spear,", "And on the frieze the prancing horses neighed,", "And the low tread of hurrying feet rang from the cavalcade.", "", "Ready for death with parted lips he stood,", "And well content at such a price to see", "That calm wide brow, that terrible maidenhood,", "The marvel of that pitiless chastity,", "Ah! well content indeed, for never wight", "Since Troy's young shepherd prince had seen so wonderful a sight.", "", "Ready for death he stood, but lo! the air", "Grew silent, and the horses ceased to neigh,", "And off his brow he tossed the clustering hair,", "And from his limbs he throw the cloak away;", "For whom would not such love make desperate?", "And nigher came, and touched her throat, and with hands violate", "", "Undid the cuirass, and the crocus gown,", "And bared the breasts of polished ivory,", "Till from the waist the peplos falling down", "Left visible the secret mystery", "Which to no lover will Athena show,", "The grand cool flanks, the crescent thighs, the bossy hills of", "snow.", "", "Those who have never known a lover's sin", "Let them not read my ditty, it will be", "To their dull ears so musicless and thin", "That they will have no joy of it, but ye", "To whose wan cheeks now creeps the lingering smile,", "Ye who have learned who Eros is, - O listen yet awhile.", "", "A little space he let his greedy eyes", "Rest on the burnished image, till mere sight", "Half swooned for surfeit of such luxuries,", "And then his lips in hungering delight", "Fed on her lips, and round the towered neck", "He flung his arms, nor cared at all his passion's will to check.", "", "Never I ween did lover hold such tryst,", "For all night long he murmured honeyed word,", "And saw her sweet unravished limbs, and kissed", "Her pale and argent body undisturbed,", "And paddled with the polished throat, and pressed", "His hot and beating heart upon her chill and icy breast.", "", "It was as if Numidian javelins", "Pierced through and through his wild and whirling brain,", "And his nerves thrilled like throbbing violins", "In exquisite pulsation, and the pain", "Was such sweet anguish that he never drew", "His lips from hers till overhead the lark of warning flew.", "", "They who have never seen the daylight peer", "Into a darkened room, and drawn the curtain,", "And with dull eyes and wearied from some dear", "And worshipped body risen, they for certain", "Will never know of what I try to sing,", "How long the last kiss was, how fond and late his lingering.", "", "The moon was girdled with a crystal rim,", "The sign which shipmen say is ominous", "Of wrath in heaven, the wan stars were dim,", "And the low lightening east was tremulous", "With the faint fluttering wings of flying dawn,", "Ere from the silent sombre shrine his lover had withdrawn.", "", "Down the steep rock with hurried feet and fast", "Clomb the brave lad, and reached the cave of Pan,", "And heard the goat-foot snoring as he passed,", "And leapt upon a grassy knoll and ran", "Like a young fawn unto an olive wood", "Which in a shady valley by the well-built city stood;", "", "And sought a little stream, which well he knew,", "For oftentimes with boyish careless shout", "The green and crested grebe he would pursue,", "Or snare in woven net the silver trout,", "And down amid the startled reeds he lay", "Panting in breathless sweet affright, and waited for the day.", "", "On the green bank he lay, and let one hand", "Dip in the cool dark eddies listlessly,", "And soon the breath of morning came and fanned", "His hot flushed cheeks, or lifted wantonly", "The tangled curls from off his forehead, while", "He on the running water gazed with strange and secret smile.", "", "And soon the shepherd in rough woollen cloak", "With his long crook undid the wattled cotes,", "And from the stack a thin blue wreath of smoke", "Curled through the air across the ripening oats,", "And on the hill the yellow house-dog bayed", "As through the crisp and rustling fern the heavy cattle strayed.", "", "And when the light-foot mower went afield", "Across the meadows laced with threaded dew,", "And the sheep bleated on the misty weald,", "And from its nest the waking corncrake flew,", "Some woodmen saw him lying by the stream", "And marvelled much that any lad so beautiful could seem,", "", "Nor deemed him born of mortals, and one said,", "'It is young Hylas, that false runaway", "Who with a Naiad now would make his bed", "Forgetting Herakles,' but others, 'Nay,", "It is Narcissus, his own paramour,", "Those are the fond and crimson lips no woman can allure.'", "", "And when they nearer came a third one cried,", "'It is young Dionysos who has hid", "His spear and fawnskin by the river side", "Weary of hunting with the Bassarid,", "And wise indeed were we away to fly:", "They live not long who on the gods immortal come to spy.'", "", "So turned they back, and feared to look behind,", "And told the timid swain how they had seen", "Amid the reeds some woodland god reclined,", "And no man dared to cross the open green,", "And on that day no olive-tree was slain,", "Nor rushes cut, but all deserted was the fair domain,", "", "Save when the neat-herd's lad, his empty pail", "Well slung upon his back, with leap and bound", "Raced on the other side, and stopped to hail,", "Hoping that he some comrade new had found,", "And gat no answer, and then half afraid", "Passed on his simple way, or down the still and silent glade", "", "A little girl ran laughing from the farm,", "Not thinking of love's secret mysteries,", "And when she saw the white and gleaming arm", "And all his manlihood, with longing eyes", "Whose passion mocked her sweet virginity", "Watched him awhile, and then stole back sadly and wearily.", "", "Far off he heard the city's hum and noise,", "And now and then the shriller laughter where", "The passionate purity of brown-limbed boys", "Wrestled or raced in the clear healthful air,", "And now and then a little tinkling bell", "As the shorn wether led the sheep down to the mossy well.", "", "Through the grey willows danced the fretful gnat,", "The grasshopper chirped idly from the tree,", "In sleek and oily coat the water-rat", "Breasting the little ripples manfully", "Made for the wild-duck's nest, from bough to bough", "Hopped the shy finch, and the huge tortoise crept across the", "slough.", "", "On the faint wind floated the silky seeds", "As the bright scythe swept through the waving grass,", "The ouzel-cock splashed circles in the reeds", "And flecked with silver whorls the forest's glass,", "Which scarce had caught again its imagery", "Ere from its bed the dusky tench leapt at the dragon-fly.", "", "But little care had he for any thing", "Though up and down the beech the squirrel played,", "And from the copse the linnet 'gan to sing", "To its brown mate its sweetest serenade;", "Ah! little care indeed, for he had seen", "The breasts of Pallas and the naked wonder of the Queen.", "", "But when the herdsman called his straggling goats", "With whistling pipe across the rocky road,", "And the shard-beetle with its trumpet-notes", "Boomed through the darkening woods, and seemed to bode", "Of coming storm, and the belated crane", "Passed homeward like a shadow, and the dull big drops of rain", "", "Fell on the pattering fig-leaves, up he rose,", "And from the gloomy forest went his way", "Past sombre homestead and wet orchard-close,", "And came at last unto a little quay,", "And called his mates aboard, and took his seat", "On the high poop, and pushed from land, and loosed the dripping", "sheet,", "", "And steered across the bay, and when nine suns", "Passed down the long and laddered way of gold,", "And nine pale moons had breathed their orisons", "To the chaste stars their confessors, or told", "Their dearest secret to the downy moth", "That will not fly at noonday, through the foam and surging froth", "", "Came a great owl with yellow sulphurous eyes", "And lit upon the ship, whose timbers creaked", "As though the lading of three argosies", "Were in the hold, and flapped its wings and shrieked,", "And darkness straightway stole across the deep,", "Sheathed was Orion's sword, dread Mars himself fled down the steep,", "", "And the moon hid behind a tawny mask", "Of drifting cloud, and from the ocean's marge", "Rose the red plume, the huge and horned casque,", "The seven-cubit spear, the brazen targe!", "And clad in bright and burnished panoply", "Athena strode across the stretch of sick and shivering sea!", "", "To the dull sailors' sight her loosened looks", "Seemed like the jagged storm-rack, and her feet", "Only the spume that floats on hidden rocks,", "And, marking how the rising waters beat", "Against the rolling ship, the pilot cried", "To the young helmsman at the stern to luff to windward side", "", "But he, the overbold adulterer,", "A dear profaner of great mysteries,", "An ardent amorous idolater,", "When he beheld those grand relentless eyes", "Laughed loud for joy, and crying out 'I come'", "Leapt from the lofty poop into the chill and churning foam.", "", "Then fell from the high heaven one bright star,", "One dancer left the circling galaxy,", "And back to Athens on her clattering car", "In all the pride of venged divinity", "Pale Pallas swept with shrill and steely clank,", "And a few gurgling bubbles rose where her boy lover sank.", "", "And the mast shuddered as the gaunt owl flew", "With mocking hoots after the wrathful Queen,", "And the old pilot bade the trembling crew", "Hoist the big sail, and told how he had seen", "Close to the stern a dim and giant form,", "And like a dipping swallow the stout ship dashed through the storm.", "", "And no man dared to speak of Charmides", "Deeming that he some evil thing had wrought,", "And when they reached the strait Symplegades", "They beached their galley on the shore, and sought", "The toll-gate of the city hastily,", "And in the market showed their brown and pictured pottery.", "", "", "II.", "", "", "But some good Triton-god had ruth, and bare", "The boy's drowned body back to Grecian land,", "And mermaids combed his dank and dripping hair", "And smoothed his brow, and loosed his clenching hand;", "Some brought sweet spices from far Araby,", "And others bade the halcyon sing her softest lullaby.", "", "And when he neared his old Athenian home,", "A mighty billow rose up suddenly", "Upon whose oily back the clotted foam", "Lay diapered in some strange fantasy,", "And clasping him unto its glassy breast", "Swept landward, like a white-maned steed upon a venturous quest!", "", "Now where Colonos leans unto the sea", "There lies a long and level stretch of lawn;", "The rabbit knows it, and the mountain bee", "For it deserts Hymettus, and the Faun", "Is not afraid, for never through the day", "Comes a cry ruder than the shout of shepherd lads at play.", "", "But often from the thorny labyrinth", "And tangled branches of the circling wood", "The stealthy hunter sees young Hyacinth", "Hurling the polished disk, and draws his hood", "Over his guilty gaze, and creeps away,", "Nor dares to wind his horn, or - else at the first break of day", "", "The Dryads come and throw the leathern ball", "Along the reedy shore, and circumvent", "Some goat-eared Pan to be their seneschal", "For fear of bold Poseidon's ravishment,", "And loose their girdles, with shy timorous eyes,", "Lest from the surf his azure arms and purple beard should rise.", "", "On this side and on that a rocky cave,", "Hung with the yellow-belled laburnum, stands", "Smooth is the beach, save where some ebbing wave", "Leaves its faint outline etched upon the sands,", "As though it feared to be too soon forgot", "By the green rush, its playfellow, - and yet, it is a spot", "", "So small, that the inconstant butterfly", "Could steal the hoarded money from each flower", "Ere it was noon, and still not satisfy", "Its over-greedy love, - within an hour", "A sailor boy, were he but rude enow", "To land and pluck a garland for his galley's painted prow,", "", "Would almost leave the little meadow bare,", "For it knows nothing of great pageantry,", "Only a few narcissi here and there", "Stand separate in sweet austerity,", "Dotting the unmown grass with silver stars,", "And here and there a daffodil waves tiny scimitars.", "", "Hither the billow brought him, and was glad", "Of such dear servitude, and where the land", "Was virgin of all waters laid the lad", "Upon the golden margent of the strand,", "And like a lingering lover oft returned", "To kiss those pallid limbs which once with intense fire burned,", "", "Ere the wet seas had quenched that holocaust,", "That self-fed flame, that passionate lustihead,", "Ere grisly death with chill and nipping frost", "Had withered up those lilies white and red", "Which, while the boy would through the forest range,", "Answered each other in a sweet antiphonal counter-change.", "", "And when at dawn the wood-nymphs, hand-in-hand,", "Threaded the bosky dell, their satyr spied", "The boy's pale body stretched upon the sand,", "And feared Poseidon's treachery, and cried,", "And like bright sunbeams flitting through a glade", "Each startled Dryad sought some safe and leafy ambuscade.", "", "Save one white girl, who deemed it would not be", "So dread a thing to feel a sea-god's arms", "Crushing her breasts in amorous tyranny,", "And longed to listen to those subtle charms", "Insidious lovers weave when they would win", "Some fenced fortress, and stole back again, nor thought it sin", "", "To yield her treasure unto one so fair,", "And lay beside him, thirsty with love's drouth,", "Called him soft names, played with his tangled hair,", "And with hot lips made havoc of his mouth", "Afraid he might not wake, and then afraid", "Lest he might wake too soon, fled back, and then, fond renegade,", "", "Returned to fresh assault, and all day long", "Sat at his side, and laughed at her new toy,", "And held his hand, and sang her sweetest song,", "Then frowned to see how froward was the boy", "Who would not with her maidenhood entwine,", "Nor knew that three days since his eyes had looked on Proserpine;", "", "Nor knew what sacrilege his lips had done,", "But said, 'He will awake, I know him well,", "He will awake at evening when the sun", "Hangs his red shield on Corinth's citadel;", "This sleep is but a cruel treachery", "To make me love him more, and in some cavern of the sea", "", "Deeper than ever falls the fisher's line", "Already a huge Triton blows his horn,", "And weaves a garland from the crystalline", "And drifting ocean-tendrils to adorn", "The emerald pillars of our bridal bed,", "For sphered in foaming silver, and with coral crowned head,", "", "We two will sit upon a throne of pearl,", "And a blue wave will be our canopy,", "And at our feet the water-snakes will curl", "In all their amethystine panoply", "Of diamonded mail, and we will mark", "The mullets swimming by the mast of some storm-foundered bark,", "", "Vermilion-finned with eyes of bossy gold", "Like flakes of crimson light, and the great deep", "His glassy-portaled chamber will unfold,", "And we will see the painted dolphins sleep", "Cradled by murmuring halcyons on the rocks", "Where Proteus in quaint suit of green pastures his monstrous", "flocks.", "", "And tremulous opal-hued anemones", "Will wave their purple fringes where we tread", "Upon the mirrored floor, and argosies", "Of fishes flecked with tawny scales will thread", "The drifting cordage of the shattered wreck,", "And honey-coloured amber beads our twining limbs will deck.'", "", "But when that baffled Lord of War the Sun", "With gaudy pennon flying passed away", "Into his brazen House, and one by one", "The little yellow stars began to stray", "Across the field of heaven, ah! then indeed", "She feared his lips upon her lips would never care to feed,", "", "And cried, 'Awake, already the pale moon", "Washes the trees with silver, and the wave", "Creeps grey and chilly up this sandy dune,", "The croaking frogs are out, and from the cave", "The nightjar shrieks, the fluttering bats repass,", "And the brown stoat with hollow flanks creeps through the dusky", "grass.", "", "Nay, though thou art a god, be not so coy,", "For in yon stream there is a little reed", "That often whispers how a lovely boy", "Lay with her once upon a grassy mead,", "Who when his cruel pleasure he had done", "Spread wings of rustling gold and soared aloft into the sun.", "", "Be not so coy, the laurel trembles still", "With great Apollo's kisses, and the fir", "Whose clustering sisters fringe the seaward hill", "Hath many a tale of that bold ravisher", "Whom men call Boreas, and I have seen", "The mocking eyes of Hermes through the poplar's silvery sheen.", "", "Even the jealous Naiads call me fair,", "And every morn a young and ruddy swain", "Woos me with apples and with locks of hair,", "And seeks to soothe my virginal disdain", "By all the gifts the gentle wood-nymphs love;", "But yesterday he brought to me an iris-plumaged dove", "", "With little crimson feet, which with its store", "Of seven spotted eggs the cruel lad", "Had stolen from the lofty sycamore", "At daybreak, when her amorous comrade had", "Flown off in search of berried juniper", "Which most they love; the fretful wasp, that earliest vintager", "", "Of the blue grapes, hath not persistency", "So constant as this simple shepherd-boy", "For my poor lips, his joyous purity", "And laughing sunny eyes might well decoy", "A Dryad from her oath to Artemis;", "For very beautiful is he, his mouth was made to kiss;", "", "His argent forehead, like a rising moon", "Over the dusky hills of meeting brows,", "Is crescent shaped, the hot and Tyrian noon", "Leads from the myrtle-grove no goodlier spouse", "For Cytheraea, the first silky down", "Fringes his blushing cheeks, and his young limbs are strong and", "brown;", "", "And he is rich, and fat and fleecy herds", "Of bleating sheep upon his meadows lie,", "And many an earthen bowl of yellow curds", "Is in his homestead for the thievish fly", "To swim and drown in, the pink clover mead", "Keeps its sweet store for him, and he can pipe on oaten reed.", "", "And yet I love him not; it was for thee", "I kept my love; I knew that thou would'st come", "To rid me of this pallid chastity,", "Thou fairest flower of the flowerless foam", "Of all the wide AEgean, brightest star", "Of ocean's azure heavens where the mirrored planets are!", "", "I knew that thou would'st come, for when at first", "The dry wood burgeoned, and the sap of spring", "Swelled in my green and tender bark or burst", "To myriad multitudinous blossoming", "Which mocked the midnight with its mimic moons", "That did not dread the dawn, and first the thrushes' rapturous", "tunes", "", "Startled the squirrel from its granary,", "And cuckoo flowers fringed the narrow lane,", "Through my young leaves a sensuous ecstasy", "Crept like new wine, and every mossy vein", "Throbbed with the fitful pulse of amorous blood,", "And the wild winds of passion shook my slim stem's maidenhood.", "", "The trooping fawns at evening came and laid", "Their cool black noses on my lowest boughs,", "And on my topmost branch the blackbird made", "A little nest of grasses for his spouse,", "And now and then a twittering wren would light", "On a thin twig which hardly bare the weight of such delight.", "", "I was the Attic shepherd's trysting place,", "Beneath my shadow Amaryllis lay,", "And round my trunk would laughing Daphnis chase", "The timorous girl, till tired out with play", "She felt his hot breath stir her tangled hair,", "And turned, and looked, and fled no more from such delightful", "snare.", "", "Then come away unto my ambuscade", "Where clustering woodbine weaves a canopy", "For amorous pleasaunce, and the rustling shade", "Of Paphian myrtles seems to sanctify", "The dearest rites of love; there in the cool", "And green recesses of its farthest depth there is pool,", "", "The ouzel's haunt, the wild bee's pasturage,", "For round its rim great creamy lilies float", "Through their flat leaves in verdant anchorage,", "Each cup a white-sailed golden-laden boat", "Steered by a dragon-fly, - be not afraid", "To leave this wan and wave-kissed shore, surely the place was made", "", "For lovers such as we; the Cyprian Queen,", "One arm around her boyish paramour,", "Strays often there at eve, and I have seen", "The moon strip off her misty vestiture", "For young Endymion's eyes; be not afraid,", "The panther feet of Dian never tread that secret glade.", "", "Nay if thou will'st, back to the beating brine,", "Back to the boisterous billow let us go,", "And walk all day beneath the hyaline", "Huge vault of Neptune's watery portico,", "And watch the purple monsters of the deep", "Sport in ungainly play, and from his lair keen Xiphias leap.", "", "For if my mistress find me lying here", "She will not ruth or gentle pity show,", "But lay her boar-spear down, and with austere", "Relentless fingers string the cornel bow,", "And draw the feathered notch against her breast,", "And loose the arched cord; aye, even now upon the quest", "", "I hear her hurrying feet, - awake, awake,", "Thou laggard in love's battle! once at least", "Let me drink deep of passion's wine, and slake", "My parched being with the nectarous feast", "Which even gods affect! O come, Love, come,", "Still we have time to reach the cavern of thine azure home.'", "", "Scarce had she spoken when the shuddering trees", "Shook, and the leaves divided, and the air", "Grew conscious of a god, and the grey seas", "Crawled backward, and a long and dismal blare", "Blew from some tasselled horn, a sleuth-hound bayed,", "And like a flame a barbed reed flew whizzing down the glade.", "", "And where the little flowers of her breast", "Just brake into their milky blossoming,", "This murderous paramour, this unbidden guest,", "Pierced and struck deep in horrid chambering,", "And ploughed a bloody furrow with its dart,", "And dug a long red road, and cleft with winged death her heart.", "", "Sobbing her life out with a bitter cry", "On the boy's body fell the Dryad maid,", "Sobbing for incomplete virginity,", "And raptures unenjoyed, and pleasures dead,", "And all the pain of things unsatisfied,", "And the bright drops of crimson youth crept down her throbbing", "side.", "", "Ah! pitiful it was to hear her moan,", "And very pitiful to see her die", "Ere she had yielded up her sweets, or known", "The joy of passion, that dread mystery", "Which not to know is not to live at all,", "And yet to know is to be held in death's most deadly thrall.", "", "But as it hapt the Queen of Cythere,", "Who with Adonis all night long had lain", "Within some shepherd's hut in Arcady,", "On team of silver doves and gilded wain", "Was journeying Paphos-ward, high up afar", "From mortal ken between the mountains and the morning star,", "", "And when low down she spied the hapless pair,", "And heard the Oread's faint despairing cry,", "Whose cadence seemed to play upon the air", "As though it were a viol, hastily", "She bade her pigeons fold each straining plume,", "And dropt to earth, and reached the strand, and saw their dolorous", "doom.", "", "For as a gardener turning back his head", "To catch the last notes of the linnet, mows", "With careless scythe too near some flower bed,", "And cuts the thorny pillar of the rose,", "And with the flower's loosened loneliness", "Strews the brown mould; or as some shepherd lad in wantonness", "", "Driving his little flock along the mead", "Treads down two daffodils, which side by aide", "Have lured the lady-bird with yellow brede", "And made the gaudy moth forget its pride,", "Treads down their brimming golden chalices", "Under light feet which were not made for such rude ravages;", "", "Or as a schoolboy tired of his book", "Flings himself down upon the reedy grass", "And plucks two water-lilies from the brook,", "And for a time forgets the hour glass,", "Then wearies of their sweets, and goes his way,", "And lets the hot sun kill them, even go these lovers lay.", "", "And Venus cried, 'It is dread Artemis", "Whose bitter hand hath wrought this cruelty,", "Or else that mightier maid whose care it is", "To guard her strong and stainless majesty", "Upon the hill Athenian, - alas!", "That they who loved so well unloved into Death's house should", "pass.'", "", "So with soft hands she laid the boy and girl", "In the great golden waggon tenderly", "(Her white throat whiter than a moony pearl", "Just threaded with a blue vein's tapestry", "Had not yet ceased to throb, and still her breast", "Swayed like a wind-stirred lily in ambiguous unrest)", "", "And then each pigeon spread its milky van,", "The bright car soared into the dawning sky,", "And like a cloud the aerial caravan", "Passed over the AEgean silently,", "Till the faint air was troubled with the song", "From the wan mouths that call on bleeding Thammuz all night long.", "", "But when the doves had reached their wonted goal", "Where the wide stair of orbed marble dips", "Its snows into the sea, her fluttering soul", "Just shook the trembling petals of her lips", "And passed into the void, and Venus knew", "That one fair maid the less would walk amid her retinue,", "", "And bade her servants carve a cedar chest", "With all the wonder of this history,", "Within whose scented womb their limbs should rest", "Where olive-trees make tender the blue sky", "On the low hills of Paphos, and the Faun", "Pipes in the noonday, and the nightingale sings on till dawn.", "", "Nor failed they to obey her hest, and ere", "The morning bee had stung the daffodil", "With tiny fretful spear, or from its lair", "The waking stag had leapt across the rill", "And roused the ouzel, or the lizard crept", "Athwart the sunny rock, beneath the grass their bodies slept.", "", "And when day brake, within that silver shrine", "Fed by the flames of cressets tremulous,", "Queen Venus knelt and prayed to Proserpine", "That she whose beauty made Death amorous", "Should beg a guerdon from her pallid Lord,", "And let Desire pass across dread Charon's icy ford.", "", "", "III", "", "", "In melancholy moonless Acheron,", "Farm for the goodly earth and joyous day", "Where no spring ever buds, nor ripening sun", "Weighs down the apple trees, nor flowery May", "Chequers with chestnut blooms the grassy floor,", "Where thrushes never sing, and piping linnets mate no more,", "", "There by a dim and dark Lethaean well", "Young Charmides was lying; wearily", "He plucked the blossoms from the asphodel,", "And with its little rifled treasury", "Strewed the dull waters of the dusky stream,", "And watched the white stars founder, and the land was like a dream,", "", "When as he gazed into the watery glass", "And through his brown hair's curly tangles scanned", "His own wan face, a shadow seemed to pass", "Across the mirror, and a little hand", "Stole into his, and warm lips timidly", "Brushed his pale cheeks, and breathed their secret forth into a", "sigh.", "", "Then turned he round his weary eyes and saw,", "And ever nigher still their faces came,", "And nigher ever did their young mouths draw", "Until they seemed one perfect rose of flame,", "And longing arms around her neck he cast,", "And felt her throbbing bosom, and his breath came hot and fast,", "", "And all his hoarded sweets were hers to kiss,", "And all her maidenhood was his to slay,", "And limb to limb in long and rapturous bliss", "Their passion waxed and waned, - O why essay", "To pipe again of love, too venturous reed!", "Enough, enough that Eros laughed upon that flowerless mead.", "", "Too venturous poesy, O why essay", "To pipe again of passion! fold thy wings", "O'er daring Icarus and bid thy lay", "Sleep hidden in the lyre's silent strings", "Till thou hast found the old Castalian rill,", "Or from the Lesbian waters plucked drowned Sappho's golden quid!", "", "Enough, enough that he whose life had been", "A fiery pulse of sin, a splendid shame,", "Could in the loveless land of Hades glean", "One scorching harvest from those fields of flame", "Where passion walks with naked unshod feet", "And is not wounded, - ah! enough that once their lips could meet", "", "In that wild throb when all existences", "Seemed narrowed to one single ecstasy", "Which dies through its own sweetness and the stress", "Of too much pleasure, ere Persephone", "Had bade them serve her by the ebon throne", "Of the pale God who in the fields of Enna loosed her zone." ], "linecount": "683" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXXI: Methinks I See", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "To the Critic", "", "Methinks I see some crooked mimic jeer,", "And tax my Muse with this fantastic grace,", "Turning my papers asks, \"What have we here?\"", "Making withal some filthy antic face.", "I fear no censure, nor what thou canst say,", "Nor shall my spirit one jot of vigor lose;", "Think'st thou my wit shall keep the pack-horse way", "That every dudgen low invention goes?", "Since sonnets thus in bundles are imprest", "And every drudge doth dull our satiate ear,", "Think'st thou my love shall in those rags be drest", "That every dowdy, every trull, doth wear?", "Up to my pitch no common judgement flies;", "I scorn all earthly dung-bred scarabies." ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "The Buried Life", "author": "Matthew Arnold", "lines": [ "Light flows our war of mocking words, and yet,", "Behold, with tears mine eyes are wet!", "I feel a nameless sadness o'er me roll.", "Yes, yes, we know that we can jest,", "We know, we know that we can smile!", "But there's a something in this breast,", "To which thy light words bring no rest,", "And thy gay smiles no anodyne.", "Give me thy hand, and hush awhile,", "And turn those limpid eyes on mine,", "And let me read there, love! thy inmost soul.", "", "Alas! is even love too weak", "To unlock the heart, and let it speak?", "Are even lovers powerless to reveal", "To one another what indeed they feel?", "I knew the mass of men conceal'd", "Their thoughts, for fear that if reveal'd", "They would by other men be met", "With blank indifference, or with blame reproved;", "I knew they lived and moved", "Trick'd in disguises, alien to the rest", "Of men, and alien to themselves--and yet", "The same heart beats in every human breast!", "", "But we, my love!--doth a like spell benumb", "Our hearts, our voices?--must we too be dumb?", "", "Ah! well for us, if even we,", "Even for a moment, can get free", "Our heart, and have our lips unchain'd;", "For that which seals them hath been deep-ordain'd!", "", "Fate, which foresaw", "How frivolous a baby man would be--", "By what distractions he would be possess'd,", "How he would pour himself in every strife,", "And well-nigh change his own identity--", "That it might keep from his capricious play", "His genuine self, and force him to obey", "Even in his own despite his being's law,", "Bade through the deep recesses of our breast", "The unregarded river of our life", "Pursue with indiscernible flow its way;", "And that we should not see", "The buried stream, and seem to be", "Eddying at large in blind uncertainty,", "Though driving on with it eternally.", "", "But often, in the world's most crowded streets,", "But often, in the din of strife,", "There rises an unspeakable desire", "After the knowledge of our buried life;", "A thirst to spend our fire and restless force", "In tracking out our true, original course;", "A longing to inquire", "Into the mystery of this heart which beats", "So wild, so deep in us--to know", "Whence our lives come and where they go.", "And many a man in his own breast then delves,", "But deep enough, alas! none ever mines.", "And we have been on many thousand lines,", "And we have shown, on each, spirit and power;", "But hardly have we, for one little hour,", "Been on our own line, have we been ourselves--", "Hardly had skill to utter one of all", "The nameless feelings that course through our breast,", "But they course on for ever unexpress'd.", "And long we try in vain to speak and act", "Our hidden self, and what we say and do", "Is eloquent, is well--but 't#is not true!", "And then we will no more be rack'd", "With inward striving, and demand", "Of all the thousand nothings of the hour", "Their stupefying power;", "Ah yes, and they benumb us at our call!", "Yet still, from time to time, vague and forlorn,", "From the soul's subterranean depth upborne", "As from an infinitely distant land,", "Come airs, and floating echoes, and convey", "A melancholy into all our day.", "Only--but this is rare--", "When a belov{'e}d hand is laid in ours,", "When, jaded with the rush and glare", "Of the interminable hours,", "Our eyes can in another's eyes read clear,", "When our world-deafen'd ear", "Is by the tones of a loved voice caress'd--", "A bolt is shot back somewhere in our breast,", "And a lost pulse of feeling stirs again.", "The eye sinks inward, and the heart lies plain,", "And what we mean, we say, and what we would, we know.", "A man becomes aware of his life's flow,", "And hears its winding murmur; and he sees", "The meadows where it glides, the sun, the breeze.", "", "And there arrives a lull in the hot race", "Wherein he doth for ever chase", "That flying and elusive shadow, rest.", "An air of coolness plays upon his face,", "And an unwonted calm pervades his breast.", "And then he thinks he knows", "The hills where his life rose,", "And the sea where it goes." ], "linecount": "98" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXVI: I Ever Love", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "To Despair", "", "I ever love where never hope appears,", "Yet hope draws on my never-hoping care,", "And my life's hope would die, but for despair;", "My never-certain joy breeds ever-certain fears;", "Uncertain dread gives wings unto my hope,", "Yet my hope's wings are laden so with fear", "As they cannot ascend to my hope's sphere;", "Though fear gives them more than a heav'nly scope,", "Yet this large room is bounded with despair;", "So my love is still fetter'd with vain hope,", "And liberty deprives him of his scope,", "And thus am I imprison'd in the air.", "Then, sweet despair, awhile hold up thy head,", "Or all my hope for sorrow will be dead." ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "Sonnet XV: Since to Obtain Thee", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "His Remedy for Love", "", "Since to obtain thee nothing will be stead,", "I have a med'cine that shall cure my love,", "The powder of her heart dried, when she is dead,", "That gold nor honor ne'er had power to move,", "Mixt with her tears, that ne'er her true-love crost", "Nor at fifteen ne'er long'd to be a bride,", "Boil'd with her sighs in giving up the ghost,", "That for her late deceased husband died;", "Into the same then let a woman breathe,", "That, being chid, did never word reply,", "With one thrice-married's prayers, that did bequeath", "A legacy to stale virginity.", "If this receipt have not the power to win me,", "Little I'll say, but think the Devil's in me." ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "The Glove", "author": "Robert Browning", "lines": [ "\"Heigho!\" yawned one day King Francis,", "\"Distance all value enhances.", "When a man's busy, why, leisure", "Strikes him as wonderful pleasure:", "Faith, and at leisure once is he?", "Straightway he wants to be busy.", "Here we've got peace; and aghast I'm", "Caught thinking war the true pastime.", "Is there a reason in metre?", "Give us your speech, master Peter!\"", "I who, if mortal dare say so,", "Ne'er am at loss with my Naso", "\"Sire,\" I replied, \"joys prove cloudlets:", "\"Men are the merest Ixions\"--", "Here the King whistled aloud, \"Let's", "--Heigho--go look at our lions.\"", "Such are the sorrowful chances", "If you talk fine to King Francis.", "", "And so, to the courtyard proceeding,", "Our company, Francis was leading,", "Increased by new followers tenfold", "Before he arrived at the penfold;", "Lords, ladies, like clouds which bedizen", "At sunset the western horizon.", "And Sir De Lorge pressed 'mid the foremost", "With the dame he professed to adore most.", "Oh, what a face! One by fits eyed", "Her, and the horrible pitside;", "For the penfold surrounded a hollow", "Which led where the eye scarce dared follow", "And shelved to the chamber secluded", "Where Bluebeard, the great lion, brooded.", "", "The King hailed his keeper, an Arab", "As glossy and black as a scarab,", "And bade him make sport and at once stir", "Up and out of his den the old monster.", "They opened a hole in the wire-work", "Across it, and dropped there a firework,", "And fled: one's heart's beating redoubled;", "A pause, while the pit's mouth was troubled,", "The blackness and silence so utter,", "By the firework's slow sparkling and sputter;", "Then earth in a sudden contortion", "Gave out to our gaze her abortion.", "Such a brute! Were I friend Clement Marot", "(Whose experience of nature's but narrow", "And whose faculties move in no small mist", "When he versifies David the Psalmist)", "I should study that brute to describe you", "Illum Juda Leonem de Tribu.", "One's whole blood grew curdling and creepy", "To see the black mane, vast and heapy,", "The tail in the air stiff and straining", "The wide eyes, nor waxing nor waning,", "As over the barrier which bounded", "His platform, and us who surrounded", "The barrier, they reached and they rested", "On space that might stand him in best stead:", "For who knew, he thought, what the amazement,", "The eruption of clatter and blaze meant,", "And if, in this minute of wonder,", "No outlet, 'mid lightning and thunder,", "Lay broad, and, his shackles all shivered,", "The lion at last was delivered?", "Ay, that was the open sky o'erhead!", "And you saw by the flash on his forehead,", "By the hope in those eyes wide and steady,", "He was leagues in the desert already", "Driving the flocks up the mountain", "Or catlike couched hard by the fountain", "To waylay the date-gathering negress:", "So guarded he entrance or egress.", "\"How he stands!\" quoth the King: \"we may well swear,", "(No novice, we've won our spurs elsewhere", "And so can afford the confession)", "We exercise wholesome discretion", "In keeping aloof from his threshold;", "Once hold you, those jaws want no fresh hold,", "Their first would too pleasantly purloin", "The visitor's brisket or surloin:", "But who's he would prove so fool-hardy?", "Not the best man of Marignan, pardie!\"", "", "The sentence no sooner was uttered,", "Than over the rails a glove fluttered,", "Fell close to the lion, and rested:", "The dame 'twas, who flung it and jested", "With life so, De Lorge had been wooing", "For months past; he sat there pursuing", "His suit, weighing out with nonchalance", "Fine speeches like gold from a balance.", "", "Sound the trumpet, no true knight's a tarrier!", "De Lorge made one leap at the barrier,", "Walked straight to the glove--while the lion", "Ne'er moved, kept his far-reaching eye on", "The palm-tree-edged desert-spring's sapphire,", "And the musky oiled skin of the Kaffir--", "Picked it up, and as calmly retreated,", "Leaped back where the lady was seated,", "And full in the face of its owner", "Flung the glove.", "", "\"Your heart's queen, you dethrone her?", "So should I!\"--cried the King--\"'twas mere vanity", "Not love set that task to humanity!\"", "Lords and ladies alike turned with loathing", "From such a proved wolf in sheep's clothing.", "", "Not so, I; for I caught an expression", "In her brow's undisturbed self-possession", "Amid the Court's scoffing and merriment,", "As if from no pleasing experiment", "She rose, yet of pain not much heedful", "So long as the process was needful,--", "As if she had tried in a crucible,", "To what \"speeches like gold\" were reducible,", "And, finding the finest prove copper,", "Felt the smoke in her face was but proper;", "To know what she had not to trust to,", "Was worth all the ashes and dust too.", "She went out 'mid hooting and laughter;", "Clement Marot stayed; I followed after,", "And asked, as a grace, what it all meant?", "If she wished not the rash deed's recalment?", "For I\"--so I spoke--\"am a poet:", "Human nature,--behoves that I know it!\"", "", "She told me, \"Too long had I heard", "Of the deed proved alone by the word:", "For my love--what De Lorge would not dare!", "With my scorn--what De Lorge could compare!", "And the endless descriptions of death", "He would brave when my lip formed a breath,", "I must reckon as braved, or, of course,", "Doubt his word--and moreover, perforce,", "For such gifts as no lady could spurn,", "Must offer my love in return.", "When I looked on your lion, it brought", "All the dangers at once to my thought,", "Encountered by all sorts of men,", "Before he was lodged in his den--", "From the poor slave whose club or bare hands", "Dug the trap, set the snare on the sands,", "With no King and no Court to applaud,", "By no shame, should he shrink, overawed,", "Yet to capture the creature made shift,", "That his rude boys might laugh at the gift", "--To the page who last leaped o'er the fence", "Of the pit, on no greater pretence", "Than to get back the bonnet he dropped,", "Lest his pay for a week should be stopped.", "So, wiser I judged it to make", "One trial what 'death for my sake'", "Really meant, while the power was yet mine,", "", "Than to wait until time should define", "Such a phrase not so simply as I,", "Who took it to mean just 'to die.'", "The blow a glove gives is but weak:", "Does the mark yet discolour my cheek?", "But when the heart suffers a blow,", "Will the pain pass so soon, do you know?\"", "", "I looked, as away she was sweeping.", "And saw a youth eagerly keeping", "As close as he dared to the doorway.", "No doubt that a noble should more weigh", "His life than befits a plebeian;", "And yet, had our brute been Nemean--", "(I judge by a certain calm fervour", "The youth stepped with, forward to serve her)", "--He'd have scarce thought you did him the worst turn", "If you whispered \"Friend, what you'd get, first earn!\"", "And when, shortly after, she carried", "Her shame from the Court, and they married,", "To that marriage some happiness, maugre", "The voice of the Court, I dared augur.", "", "For De Lorge, he made women with men vie,", "Those in wonder and praise, these in envy;", "And in short stood so plain a head taller.", "That he wooed and won... how do you call her?", "The beauty, that rose in the sequel", "To the King's love, who loved her a week well.", "And 'twas noticed he never would honour", "De Lorge (who looked daggers upon her)", "With the easy commission of stretching", "His legs in the service, and fetching", "His wife, from her chamber, those straying", "Sad gloves she was always mislaying,", "While the King took the closet to chat in,--", "But of course this adventure came pat in.", "And never the King told the story,", "How bringing a glove brought such glory,", "But the wife smiled--\"His nerves are grown firmer:", "Mine he brings now and utters no murmur.\"", "", "Venienti occurrite morbo!", "With which moral I drop my theorbo." ], "linecount": "191" }, { "title": "The Last Ride Together", "author": "Robert Browning", "lines": [ "I said--Then, dearest, since 'tis so,", "Since now at length my fate I know,", "Since nothing all my love avails,", "Since all, my life seemed meant for, fails,", " Since this was written and needs must be--", "My whole heart rises up to bless", "Your name in pride and thankfulness!", "Take back the hope you gave--I claim", "Only a memory of the same,", "--And this beside, if you will not blame,", " Your leave for one more last ride with me.", "", "My mistress bent that brow of hers;", "Those deep dark eyes where pride demurs", "When pity would be softening through,", "Fixed me a breathing-while or two", " With life or death in the balance: right!", "The blood replenished me again;", "My last thought was at least not vain:", "I and my mistress, side by side", "Shall be together, breathe and ride,", "So, one day more am I deified.", " Who knows but the world may end tonight?", "", "Hush! if you saw some western cloud", "All billowy-bosomed, over-bowed", "By many benedictions--sun's", "And moon's and evening-star's at once--", " And so, you, looking and loving best,", "Conscious grew, your passion drew", "Cloud, sunset, moonrise, star-shine too,", "Down on you, near and yet more near,", "Till flesh must fade for heaven was here!--", "Thus leant she and lingered--joy and fear!", " Thus lay she a moment on my breast.", "", "Then we began to ride. My soul", "Smoothed itself out, a long-cramped scroll", "Freshening and fluttering in the wind.", "Past hopes already lay behind.", " What need to strive with a life awry?", "Had I said that, had I done this,", "So might I gain, so might I miss.", "Might she have loved me? just as well", "She might have hated, who can tell!", "Where had I been now if the worst befell?", " And here we are riding, she and I.", "", "Fail I alone, in words and deeds?", "Why, all men strive and who succeeds?", "We rode; it seemed my spirit flew,", "Saw other regions, cities new", " As the world rushed by on either side.", "I thought,--All labour, yet no less", "Bear up beneath their unsuccess", "Look at the end of work, contrast", "The petty done, the undone vast,", "This present of theirs with the hopeful past!", " I hoped she would love me; here we ride.", "", "What hand and brain went ever paired?", "What heart alike conceived and dared?", "What act proved all its thought had been?", "What will but felt the fleshly screen?", " We ride and I see her bosom heave.", "There's many a crown for who can reach.", "Ten lines, a statesman's life in each!", "The flag stuck on a heap of bones,", "A soldier's doing! what atones?", "They scratch his name on the Abbey-stones.", " My riding is better, by their leave.", "", "What does it all mean, poet? Well,", "Your brains beat into rhythm, you tell", "What we felt only; you expressed", "You hold things beautiful the best,", " And pace them in rhyme so, side by side.", "'Tis something, nay 'tis much: but then,", "Have you yourself what's best for men?", "Are you--poor, sick, old ere your time--", "Nearer one whit your own sublime", "Than we who never have turned a rhyme?", " Sing, riding's a joy! For me, I ride.", "", "And you, great sculptor--so, you gave", "A score of years to Art, her slave,", "And that's your Venus, whence we turn", "To yonder girl that fords the burn!", " You acquiesce, and shall I repine?", "What, man of music, you grown grey", "With notes and nothing else to say,", "Is this your sole praise from a friend,", "\"Greatly his opera's strains intend,", "Put in music we know how fashions end!\"", " I gave my youth; but we ride, in fine.", "", "Who knows what's fit for us? Had fate", "Proposed bliss here should sublimate", "My being--had I signed the bond--", "Still one must lead some life beyond,", " Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried.", "This foot once planted on the goal,", "This glory-garland round my soul,", "Could I descry such? Try and test!", "I sink back shuddering from the quest.", "Earth being so good, would heaven seem best?", " Now, heaven and she are beyond this ride.", "", "And yet--she has not spoke so long!", "What if heaven be that, fair and strong", "At life's best, with our eyes upturned", "Whither life's flower is first discerned,", " We, fixed so, ever should so abide?", "What if we still ride on, we two", "With life for ever old yet new,", "Changed not in kind but in degree,", "The instant made eternity--", "And heaven just prove that I and she", " Ride, ride together, forever ride?" ], "linecount": "110" }, { "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": "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": "Scenes from the Magico Prodigioso", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "FROM THE SPANISH OF CALDERON.", "", "SCENE 1:", "", "ENTER CYPRIAN, DRESSED AS A STUDENT;", "CLARIN AND MOSCON AS POOR SCHOLARS, WITH BOOKS.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "In the sweet solitude of this calm place,", "This intricate wild wilderness of trees", "And flowers and undergrowth of odorous plants,", "Leave me; the books you brought out of the house", "To me are ever best society.", "And while with glorious festival and song,", "Antioch now celebrates the consecration", "Of a proud temple to great Jupiter,", "And bears his image in loud jubilee", "To its new shrine, I would consume what still", "Lives of the dying day in studious thought,", "Far from the throng and turmoil. You, my friends,", "Go, and enjoy the festival; it will", "Be worth your pains. You may return for me", "When the sun seeks its grave among the billows", "Which, among dim gray clouds on the horizon,", "Dance like white plumes upon a hearse;-- and here", "I shall expect you.", "", "MOSCON:", "I cannot bring my mind,", "Great as my haste to see the festival", "Certainly is, to leave you, Sir, without", "Just saying some three or four thousand words.", "How is it possible that on a day", "Of such festivity, you can be content", "To come forth to a solitary country", "With three or four old books, and turn your back", "On all this mirth?", "", "CLARIN:", "My master's in the right;", "There is not anything more tiresome", "Than a procession day, with troops, and priests,", "And dances, and all that.", "", "MOSCON:", "From first to last,", "Clarin, you are a temporizing flatterer;", "You praise not what you feel but what he does;--", "Toadeater!", "", "CLARIN:", "You lie--under a mistake--", "For this is the most civil sort of lie", "That can be given to a man's face. I now", "Say what I think.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Enough, you foolish fellows!", "Puffed up with your own doting ignorance,", "You always take the two sides of one question.", "Now go; and as I said, return for me", "When night falls, veiling in its shadows wide", "This glorious fabric of the universe.", "", "MOSCON:", "How happens it, although you can maintain", "The folly of enjoying festivals,", "That yet you go there?", "", "CLARIN:", "Nay, the consequence", "Is clear:--who ever did what he advises", "Others to do?--", "", "MOSCON:", "Would that my feet were wings,", "So would I fly to Livia.", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "CLARIN:", "To speak truth,", "Livia is she who has surprised my heart;", "But he is more than half-way there.--Soho!", "Livia, I come; good sport, Livia, soho!", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Now, since I am alone, let me examine", "The question which has long disturbed my mind", "With doubt, since first I read in Plinius", "The words of mystic import and deep sense", "In which he defines God. My intellect", "Can find no God with whom these marks and signs", "Fitly agree. It is a hidden truth", "Which I must fathom.", "", "[CYPRIAN READS;", "THE DAEMON, DRESSED IN A COURT DRESS, ENTERS.]", "", "DAEMON:", "Search even as thou wilt,", "But thou shalt never find what I can hide.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves?", "What art thou?--", "", "DAEMON:", "'Tis a foreign gentleman.", "Even from this morning I have lost my way", "In this wild place; and my poor horse at last,", "Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon", "The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain,", "And feeds and rests at the same time. I was", "Upon my way to Antioch upon business", "Of some importance, but wrapped up in cares", "(Who is exempt from this inheritance?)", "I parted from my company, and lost", "My way, and lost my servants and my comrades.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "'Tis singular that even within the sight", "Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose", "Your way. Of all the avenues and green paths", "Of this wild wood there is not one but leads,", "As to its centre, to the walls of Antioch;", "Take which you will, you cannot miss your road.", "", "DAEMON:", "And such is ignorance! Even in the sight", "Of knowledge, it can draw no profit from it.", "But as it still is early, and as I", "Have no acquaintances in Antioch,", "Being a stranger there, I will even wait", "The few surviving hours of the day,", "Until the night shall conquer it. I see", "Both by your dress and by the books in which", "You find delight and company, that you", "Are a great student;--for my part, I feel", "Much sympathy in such pursuits.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Have you", "Studied much?", "", "DAEMON:", "No,--and yet I know enough", "Not to be wholly ignorant.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Pray, Sir,", "What science may you know?--", "", "DAEMON:", "Many.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Alas!", "Much pains must we expend on one alone,", "And even then attain it not;--but you", "Have the presumption to assert that you", "Know many without study.", "", "DAEMON:", "And with truth.", "For in the country whence I come the sciences", "Require no learning,--they are known.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Oh, would", "I were of that bright country! for in this", "The more we study, we the more discover", "Our ignorance.", "", "DAEMON:", "It is so true, that I", "Had so much arrogance as to oppose", "The chair of the most high Professorship,", "And obtained many votes, and, though I lost,", "The attempt was still more glorious, than the failure", "Could be dishonourable. If you believe not,", "Let us refer it to dispute respecting", "That which you know the best, and although I", "Know not the opinion you maintain, and though", "It be the true one, I will take the contrary.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "The offer gives me pleasure. I am now", "Debating with myself upon a passage", "Of Plinius, and my mind is racked with doubt", "To understand and know who is the God", "Of whom he speaks.", "", "DAEMON:", "It is a passage, if", "I recollect it right, couched in these words", "'God is one supreme goodness, one pure essence,", "One substance, and one sense, all sight, all hands.'", "", "CYPRIAN:", "'Tis true.", "", "DAEMON:", "What difficulty find you here?", "", "CYPRIAN:", "I do not recognize among the Gods", "The God defined by Plinius; if he must", "Be supreme goodness, even Jupiter", "Is not supremely good; because we see", "His deeds are evil, and his attributes", "Tainted with mortal weakness; in what manner", "Can supreme goodness be consistent with", "The passions of humanity?", "", "DAEMON:", "The wisdom", "Of the old world masked with the names of Gods", "The attributes of Nature and of Man;", "A sort of popular philosophy.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "This reply will not satisfy me, for", "Such awe is due to the high name of God", "That ill should never be imputed. Then,", "Examining the question with more care,", "It follows, that the Gods would always will", "That which is best, were they supremely good.", "How then does one will one thing, one another?", "And that you may not say that I allege", "Poetical or philosophic learning:--", "Consider the ambiguous responses", "Of their oracular statues; from two shrines", "Two armies shall obtain the assurance of", "One victory. Is it not indisputable", "That two contending wills can never lead", "To the same end? And, being opposite,", "If one be good, is not the other evil?", "Evil in God is inconceivable;", "But supreme goodness fails among the Gods", "Without their union.", "", "DAEMON:", "I deny your major.", "These responses are means towards some end", "Unfathomed by our intellectual beam.", "They are the work of Providence, and more", "The battle's loss may profit those who lose,", "Than victory advantage those who win.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "That I admit; and yet that God should not", "(Falsehood is incompatible with deity)", "Assure the victory; it would be enough", "To have permitted the defeat. If God", "Be all sight,--God, who had beheld the truth,", "Would not have given assurance of an end", "Never to be accomplished: thus, although", "The Deity may according to his attributes", "Be well distinguished into persons, yet", "Even in the minutest circumstance", "His essence must be one.", "", "DAEMON:", "To attain the end", "The affections of the actors in the scene", "Must have been thus influenced by his voice.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "But for a purpose thus subordinate", "He might have employed Genii, good or evil,--", "A sort of spirits called so by the learned,", "Who roam about inspiring good or evil,", "And from whose influence and existence we", "May well infer our immortality.", "Thus God might easily, without descent", "To a gross falsehood in his proper person,", "Have moved the affections by this mediation", "To the just point.", "", "DAEMON:", "These trifling contradictions", "Do not suffice to impugn the unity", "Of the high Gods; in things of great importance", "They still appear unanimous; consider", "That glorious fabric, man,--his workmanship", "Is stamped with one conception.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Who made man", "Must have, methinks, the advantage of the others.", "If they are equal, might they not have risen", "In opposition to the work, and being", "All hands, according to our author here,", "Have still destroyed even as the other made?", "If equal in their power, unequal only", "In opportunity, which of the two", "Will remain conqueror?", "", "DAEMON:", "On impossible", "And false hypothesis there can be built", "No argument. Say, what do you infer", "From this?", "", "CYPRIAN:", "That there must be a mighty God", "Of supreme goodness and of highest grace,", "All sight, all hands, all truth, infallible,", "Without an equal and without a rival,", "The cause of all things and the effect of nothing,", "One power, one will, one substance, and one essence.", "And, in whatever persons, one or two,", "His attributes may be distinguished, one", "Sovereign power, one solitary essence,", "One cause of all cause.", "", "[THEY RISE.]", "", "DAEMON:", "How can I impugn", "So clear a consequence?", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Do you regret", "My victory?", "", "DAEMON:", "Who but regrets a check", "In rivalry of wit? I could reply", "And urge new difficulties, but will now", "Depart, for I hear steps of men approaching,", "And it is time that I should now pursue", "My journey to the city.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Go in peace!", "", "DAEMON:", "Remain in peace!--Since thus it profits him", "To study, I will wrap his senses up", "In sweet oblivion of all thought but of", "A piece of excellent beauty; and, as I", "Have power given me to wage enmity", "Against Justina's soul, I will extract", "From one effect two vengeances.", "", "[ASIDE AND EXIT.]", "", "CYPRIAN:", "I never", "Met a more learned person. Let me now", "Revolve this doubt again with careful mind.", "", "[HE READS.]", "", "[FLORO AND LELIO ENTER.]", "", "LELIO:", "Here stop. These toppling rocks and tangled boughs,", "Impenetrable by the noonday beam,", "Shall be sole witnesses of what we--", "", "FLORO:", "Draw!", "If there were words, here is the place for deeds.", "", "LELIO:", "Thou needest not instruct me; well I know", "That in the field, the silent tongue of steel", "Speaks thus,--", "", "[THEY FIGHT.]", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Ha! what is this? Lelio,--Floro,", "Be it enough that Cyprian stands between you,", "Although unarmed.", "", "LELIO:", "Whence comest thou, to stand", "Between me and my vengeance?", "", "FLORO:", "From what rocks", "And desert cells?", "", "[ENTER MOSCON AND CLARIN.]", "", "MOSCON:", "Run! run! for where we left", "My master. I now hear the clash of swords.", "", "CLARIN:", "I never run to approach things of this sort", "But only to avoid them. Sir! Cyprian! sir!", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Be silent, fellows! What! two friends who are", "In blood and fame the eyes and hope of Antioch,", "One of the noble race of the Colalti,", "The other son o' the Governor, adventure", "And cast away, on some slight cause no doubt,", "Two lives, the honour of their country?", "", "LELIO:", "Cyprian!", "Although my high respect towards your person", "Holds now my sword suspended, thou canst not", "Restore it to the slumber of the scabbard:", "Thou knowest more of science than the duel;", "For when two men of honour take the field,", "No counsel nor respect can make them friends", "But one must die in the dispute.", "", "FLORO:", "I pray", "That you depart hence with your people, and", "Leave us to finish what we have begun", "Without advantage.--", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Though you may imagine", "That I know little of the laws of duel,", "Which vanity and valour instituted,", "You are in error. By my birth I am", "Held no less than yourselves to know the limits", "Of honour and of infamy, nor has study", "Quenched the free spirit which first ordered them;", "And thus to me, as one well experienced", "In the false quicksands of the sea of honour,", "You may refer the merits of the case;", "And if I should perceive in your relation", "That either has the right to satisfaction", "From the other, I give you my word of honour", "To leave you.", "", "LELIO:", "Under this condition then", "I will relate the cause, and you will cede", "And must confess the impossibility", "Of compromise; for the same lady is", "Beloved by Floro and myself.", "", "FLORO:", "It seems", "Much to me that the light of day should look", "Upon that idol of my heart--but he--", "Leave us to fight, according to thy word.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Permit one question further: is the lady", "Impossible to hope or not?", "", "LELIO:", "She is", "So excellent, that if the light of day", "Should excite Floro's jealousy, it were", "Without just cause, for even the light of day", "Trembles to gaze on her.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Would you for your", "Part, marry her?", "", "FLORO:", "Such is my confidence.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "And you?", "", "LELIO:", "Oh! would that I could lift my hope", "So high, for though she is extremely poor,", "Her virtue is her dowry.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "And if you both", "Would marry her, is it not weak and vain,", "Culpable and unworthy, thus beforehand", "To slur her honour? What would the world say", "If one should slay the other, and if she", "Should afterwards espouse the murderer?", "", "[THE RIVALS AGREE TO REFER THEIR QUARREL TO CYPRIAN; WHO IN CONSEQUENCE", "VISITS JUSTINA, AND BECOMES ENAMOURED OF HER; SHE DISDAINS HIM, AND HE", "RETIRES TO A SOLITARY SEA-SHORE.]", "", "SCENE 2.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "O memory! permit it not", "That the tyrant of my thought", "Be another soul that still", "Holds dominion o'er the will,", "That would refuse, but can no more,", "To bend, to tremble, and adore.", "Vain idolatry!--I saw,", "And gazing, became blind with error;", "Weak ambition, which the awe", "Of her presence bound to terror!", "So beautiful she was--and I,", "Between my love and jealousy,", "Am so convulsed with hope and fear,", "Unworthy as it may appear;--", "So bitter is the life I live,", "That, hear me, Hell! I now would give", "To thy most detested spirit", "My soul, for ever to inherit,", "To suffer punishment and pine,", "So this woman may be mine.", "Hear'st thou, Hell! dost thou reject it?", "My soul is offered!", "", "DAEMON (UNSEEN):", "I accept it.", "", "[TEMPEST, WITH THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.]", "", "CYPRIAN:", "What is this? ye heavens for ever pure,", "At once intensely radiant and obscure!", "Athwart the aethereal halls", "The lightning's arrow and the thunder-balls", "The day affright,", "As from the horizon round,", "Burst with earthquake sound,", "In mighty torrents the electric fountains;--", "Clouds quench the sun, and thunder-smoke", "Strangles the air, and fire eclipses Heaven.", "Philosophy, thou canst not even", "Compel their causes underneath thy yoke:", "From yonder clouds even to the waves below", "The fragments of a single ruin choke", "Imagination's flight;", "For, on flakes of surge, like feathers light,", "The ashes of the desolation, cast", "Upon the gloomy blast,", "Tell of the footsteps of the storm;", "And nearer, see, the melancholy form", "Of a great ship, the outcast of the sea,", "Drives miserably!", "And it must fly the pity of the port,", "Or perish, and its last and sole resort", "Is its own raging enemy.", "The terror of the thrilling cry", "Was a fatal prophecy", "Of coming death, who hovers now", "Upon that shattered prow,", "That they who die not may be dying still.", "And not alone the insane elements", "Are populous with wild portents,", "But that sad ship is as a miracle", "Of sudden ruin, for it drives so fast", "It seems as if it had arrayed its form", "With the headlong storm.", "It strikes--I almost feel the shock,--", "It stumbles on a jagged rock,--", "Sparkles of blood on the white foam are cast.", "", "[A TEMPEST.]", "", "ALL EXCLAIM [WITHIN]:", "We are all lost!", "", "DAEMON [WITHIN]:", "Now from this plank will I", "Pass to the land and thus fulfil my scheme.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "As in contempt of the elemental rage", "A man comes forth in safety, while the ship's", "Great form is in a watery eclipse", "Obliterated from the Oceans page,", "And round its wreck the huge sea-monsters sit,", "A horrid conclave, and the whistling wave", "Is heaped over its carcase, like a grave.", "", "[THE DAEMON ENTERS, AS ESCAPED FROM THE SEA.]", "", "DAEMON [ASIDE]:", "It was essential to my purposes", "To wake a tumult on the sapphire ocean,", "That in this unknown form I might at length", "Wipe out the blot of the discomfiture", "Sustained upon the mountain, and assail", "With a new war the soul of Cyprian,", "Forging the instruments of his destruction", "Even from his love and from his wisdom.--O", "Beloved earth, dear mother, in thy bosom", "I seek a refuge from the monster who", "Precipitates itself upon me.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Friend,", "Collect thyself; and be the memory", "Of thy late suffering, and thy greatest sorrow", "But as a shadow of the past,--for nothing", "Beneath the circle of the moon, but flows", "And changes, and can never know repose.", "", "DAEMON:", "And who art thou, before whose feet my fate", "Has prostrated me?", "", "CYPRIAN:", "One who, moved with pity,", "Would soothe its stings.", "", "DAEMON:", "Oh, that can never be!", "No solace can my lasting sorrows find.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Wherefore?", "", "DAEMON:", "Because my happiness is lost.", "Yet I lament what has long ceased to be", "The object of desire or memory,", "And my life is not life.", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Now, since the fury", "Of this earthquaking hurricane is still,", "And the crystalline Heaven has reassumed", "Its windless calm so quickly, that it seems", "As if its heavy wrath had been awakened", "Only to overwhelm that vessel,--speak,", "Who art thou, and whence comest thou?", "", "DAEMON:", "Far more", "My coming hither cost, than thou hast seen", "Or I can tell. Among my misadventures", "This shipwreck is the least. Wilt thou hear?", "", "CYPRIAN:", "Speak.", "", "DAEMON:", "Since thou desirest, I will then unveil", "Myself to thee;--for in myself I am", "A world of happiness and misery;", "This I have lost, and that I must lament", "Forever. In my attributes I stood", "So high and so heroically great,", "In lineage so supreme, and with a genius", "Which penetrated with a glance the world", "Beneath my feet, that, won by my high merit,", "A king--whom I may call the King of kings,", "Because all others tremble in their pride", "Before the terrors of His countenance,", "In His high palace roofed with brightest gems", "Of living light--call them the stars of Heaven--", "Named me His counsellor. But the high praise", "Stung me with pride and envy, and I rose", "In mighty competition, to ascend", "His seat and place my foot triumphantly", "Upon His subject thrones. Chastised, I know", "The depth to which ambition falls; too mad", "Was the attempt, and yet more mad were now", "Repentance of the irrevocable deed:--", "Therefore I chose this ruin, with the glory", "Of not to be subdued, before the shame", "Of reconciling me with Him who reigns", "By coward cession.--Nor was I alone,", "Nor am I now, nor shall I be alone;", "And there was hope, and there may still be hope,", "For many suffrages among His vassals", "Hailed me their lord and king, and many still", "Are mine, and many more, perchance shall be.", "Thus vanquished, though in fact victorious,", "I left His seat of empire, from mine eye", "Shooting forth poisonous lightning, while my words", "With inauspicious thunderings shook Heaven,", "Proclaiming vengeance, public as my wrong,", "And imprecating on His prostrate slaves", "Rapine, and death, and outrage. Then I sailed", "Over the mighty fabric of the world,--", "A pirate ambushed in its pathless sands,", "A lynx crouched watchfully among its caves", "And craggy shores; and I have wandered over", "The expanse of these wide wildernesses", "In this great ship, whose bulk is now dissolved", "In the light breathings of the invisible wind,", "And which the sea has made a dustless ruin,", "Seeking ever a mountain, through whose forests", "I seek a man, whom I must now compel", "To keep his word with me. I came arrayed", "In tempest, and although my power could well", "Bridle the forest winds in their career,", "For other causes I forbore to soothe", "Their fury to Favonian gentleness;", "I could and would not;", "[ASIDE.]", "(thus I wake in him", "A love of magic art). Let not this tempest,", "Nor the succeeding calm excite thy wonder;", "For by my art the sun would turn as pale", "As his weak sister with unwonted fear;", "And in my wisdom are the orbs of Heaven", "Written as in a record; I have pierced", "The flaming circles of their wondrous spheres", "And know them as thou knowest every corner", "Of this dim spot. Let it not seem to thee", "That I boast vainly; wouldst thou that I work", "A charm over this waste and savage wood,", "This Babylon of crags and aged trees,", "Filling its leafy coverts with a horror", "Thrilling and strange? I am the friendless guest", "Of these wild oaks and pines--and as from thee", "I have received the hospitality", "Of this rude place, I offer thee the fruit", "Of years of toil in recompense; whate'er", "Thy wildest dream presented to thy thought", "As object of desire, that shall be thine.", "", "...", "", "And thenceforth shall so firm an amity", "'Twixt thee and me be, that neither Fortune,", "The monstrous phantom which pursues success,", "That careful miser, that free prodigal,", "Who ever alternates, with changeful hand,", "Evil and good, reproach and fame; nor Time,", "That lodestar of the ages, to whose beam", "The winged years speed o'er the intervals", "Of their unequal revolutions; nor", "Heaven itself, whose beautiful bright stars", "Rule and adorn the world, can ever make", "The least division between thee and me,", "Since now I find a refuge in thy favour.", "", "SCENE 3.", "", "THE DAEMON TEMPTS JUSTINA, WHO IS A CHRISTIAN.", "", "DAEMON:", "Abyss of Hell! I call on thee,", "Thou wild misrule of thine own anarchy!", "From thy prison-house set free", "The spirits of voluptuous death,", "That with their mighty breath", "They may destroy a world of virgin thoughts;", "Let her chaste mind with fancies thick as motes", "Be peopled from thy shadowy deep,", "Till her guiltless fantasy", "Full to overflowing be!", "And with sweetest harmony,", "Let birds, and flowers, and leaves, and all things move", "To love, only to love.", "Let nothing meet her eyes", "But signs of Love's soft victories;", "Let nothing meet her ear", "But sounds of Love's sweet sorrow,", "So that from faith no succour she may borrow,", "But, guided by my spirit blind", "And in a magic snare entwined,", "She may now seek Cyprian.", "Begin, while I in silence bind", "My voice, when thy sweet song thou hast began.", "", "A VOICE [WITHIN]:", "What is the glory far above", "All else in human life?", "", "ALL:", "Love! love!", "", "[WHILE THESE WORDS ARE SUNG,", "THE DAEMON GOES OUT AT ONE DOOR,", "AND JUSTINA ENTERS AT ANOTHER.]", "", "THE FIRST VOICE:", "There is no form in which the fire", "Of love its traces has impressed not.", "Man lives far more in love's desire", "Than by life's breath, soon possessed not.", "If all that lives must love or die,", "All shapes on earth, or sea, or sky,", "With one consent to Heaven cry", "That the glory far above", "All else in life is--", "", "ALL:", "Love! oh, Love!", "", "JUSTINA:", "Thou melancholy Thought which art", "So flattering and so sweet, to thee", "When did I give the liberty", "Thus to afflict my heart?", "What is the cause of this new Power", "Which doth my fevered being move,", "Momently raging more and more?", "What subtle Pain is kindled now", "Which from my heart doth overflow", "Into my senses?--", "", "ALL:", "Love! oh, Love!", "", "JUSTINA:", "'Tis that enamoured Nightingale", "Who gives me the reply;", "He ever tells the same soft tale", "Of passion and of constancy", "To his mate, who rapt and fond,", "Listening sits, a bough beyond.", "", "Be silent, Nightingale--no more", "Make me think, in hearing thee", "Thus tenderly thy love deplore,", "If a bird can feel his so,", "What a man would feel for me.", "And, voluptuous Vine, O thou", "Who seekest most when least pursuing,--", "To the trunk thou interlacest", "Art the verdure which embracest,", "And the weight which is its ruin,--", "No more, with green embraces, Vine,", "Make me think on what thou lovest,--", "For whilst thus thy boughs entwine", "I fear lest thou shouldst teach me, sophist,", "How arms might be entangled too.", "", "Light-enchanted Sunflower, thou", "Who gazest ever true and tender", "On the sun's revolving splendour!", "Follow not his faithless glance", "With thy faded countenance,", "Nor teach my beating heart to fear,", "If leaves can mourn without a tear,", "How eyes must weep! O Nightingale,", "Cease from thy enamoured tale,--", "Leafy Vine, unwreathe thy bower,", "Restless Sunflower, cease to move,--", "Or tell me all, what poisonous Power", "Ye use against me--", "", "ALL:", "Love! Love! Love!", "", "JUSTINA:", "It cannot be!--Whom have I ever loved?", "Trophies of my oblivion and disdain,", "Floro and Lelio did I not reject?", "And Cyprian?--", "[SHE BECOMES TROUBLED AT THE NAME OF CYPRIAN.]", "Did I not requite him", "With such severity, that he has fled", "Where none has ever heard of him again?--", "Alas! I now begin to fear that this", "May be the occasion whence desire grows bold,", "As if there were no danger. From the moment", "That I pronounced to my own listening heart,", "'Cyprian is absent!'--O me miserable!", "I know not what I feel!", "[MORE CALMLY.]", "It must be pity", "To think that such a man, whom all the world", "Admired, should be forgot by all the world,", "And I the cause.", "[SHE AGAIN BECOMES TROUBLED.]", "And yet if it were pity,", "Floro and Lelio might have equal share,", "For they are both imprisoned for my sake.", "[CALMLY.]", "Alas! what reasonings are these? it is", "Enough I pity him, and that, in vain,", "Without this ceremonious subtlety.", "And, woe is me! I know not where to find him now,", "Even should I seek him through this wide world.", "", "[ENTER DAEMON.]", "", "DAEMON:", "Follow, and I will lead thee where he is.", "", "JUSTINA:", "And who art thou, who hast found entrance hither,", "Into my chamber through the doors and locks?", "Art thou a monstrous shadow which my madness", "Has formed in the idle air?", "", "DAEMON:", "No. I am one", "Called by the Thought which tyrannizes thee", "From his eternal dwelling; who this day", "Is pledged to bear thee unto Cyprian.", "", "JUSTINA:", "So shall thy promise fail. This agony", "Of passion which afflicts my heart and soul", "May sweep imagination in its storm;", "The will is firm.", "", "DAEMON:", "Already half is done", "In the imagination of an act.", "The sin incurred, the pleasure then remains;", "Let not the will stop half-way on the road.", "", "JUSTINA:", "I will not be discouraged, nor despair,", "Although I thought it, and although 'tis true", "That thought is but a prelude to the deed:--", "Thought is not in my power, but action is:", "I will not move my foot to follow thee.", "", "DAEMON:", "But a far mightier wisdom than thine own", "Exerts itself within thee, with such power", "Compelling thee to that which it inclines", "That it shall force thy step; how wilt thou then", "Resist, Justina?", "", "JUSTINA:", "By my free-will.", "", "DAEMON:", "I", "Must force thy will.", "", "JUSTINA:", "It is invincible;", "It were not free if thou hadst power upon it.", "", "[HE DRAWS, BUT CANNOT MOVE HER.]", "", "DAEMON:", "Come, where a pleasure waits thee.", "", "JUSTINA:", "It were bought", "Too dear.", "", "DAEMON:", "'Twill soothe thy heart to softest peace.", "", "JUSTINA:", "'Tis dread captivity.", "", "DAEMON:", "'Tis joy, 'tis glory.", "", "JUSTINA:", "'Tis shame, 'tis torment, 'tis despair.", "", "DAEMON:", "But how", "Canst thou defend thyself from that or me,", "If my power drags thee onward?", "", "JUSTINA:", "My defence", "Consists in God.", "", "[HE VAINLY ENDEAVOURS TO FORCE HER, AND AT LAST RELEASES HER.]", "", "DAEMON:", "Woman, thou hast subdued me,", "Only by not owning thyself subdued.", "But since thou thus findest defence in God,", "I will assume a feigned form, and thus", "Make thee a victim of my baffled rage.", "For I will mask a spirit in thy form", "Who will betray thy name to infamy,", "And doubly shall I triumph in thy loss,", "First by dishonouring thee, and then by turning", "False pleasure to true ignominy.", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "JUSTINA: I", "Appeal to Heaven against thee; so that Heaven", "May scatter thy delusions, and the blot", "Upon my fame vanish in idle thought,", "Even as flame dies in the envious air,", "And as the floweret wanes at morning frost;", "And thou shouldst never--But, alas! to whom", "Do I still speak?--Did not a man but now", "Stand here before me?--No, I am alone,", "And yet I saw him. Is he gone so quickly?", "Or can the heated mind engender shapes", "From its own fear? Some terrible and strange", "Peril is near. Lisander! father! lord!", "Livia!--", "", "[ENTER LISANDER AND LIVIA.]", "", "LISANDER:", "Oh, my daughter! What?", "", "LIVIA:", "What!", "", "JUSTINA:", "Saw you", "A man go forth from my apartment now?--", "I scarce contain myself!", "", "LISANDER:", "A man here!", "", "JUSTINA:", "Have you not seen him?", "", "LIVIA:", "No, Lady.", "", "JUSTINA: I saw him.", "", "LISANDER: 'Tis impossible; the doors", "Which led to this apartment were all locked.", "", "LIVIA [ASIDE]:", "I daresay it was Moscon whom she saw,", "For he was locked up in my room.", "", "LISANDER:", "It must", "Have been some image of thy fantasy.", "Such melancholy as thou feedest is", "Skilful in forming such in the vain air", "Out of the motes and atoms of the day.", "", "LIVIA:", "My master's in the right.", "", "JUSTINA:", "Oh, would it were", "Delusion; but I fear some greater ill.", "I feel as if out of my bleeding bosom", "My heart was torn in fragments; ay,", "Some mortal spell is wrought against my frame;", "So potent was the charm that, had not God", "Shielded my humble innocence from wrong,", "I should have sought my sorrow and my shame", "With willing steps.--Livia, quick, bring my cloak,", "For I must seek refuge from these extremes", "Even in the temple of the highest God", "Where secretly the faithful worship.", "", "LIVIA:", "Here.", "", "JUSTINA [PUTTING ON HER CLOAK]:", "In this, as in a shroud of snow, may I", "Quench the consuming fire in which I burn,", "Wasting away!", "", "LISANDER:", "And I will go with thee.", "", "LIVIA:", "When I once see them safe out of the house", "I shall breathe freely.", "", "JUSTINA:", "So do I confide", "In thy just favour, Heaven!", "", "LISANDER:", "Let us go.", "", "JUSTINA:", "Thine is the cause, great God! turn for my sake,", "And for Thine own, mercifully to me!" ], "linecount": "912" }, { "title": "Song: Thine am I, my faithful Fair", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THINE am I, my faithful Fair,", " Thine, my lovely Nancy;", "Ev’ry pulse along my veins,", " Ev’ry roving fancy.", "To thy bosom lay my heart,", " There to throb and languish;", "Tho’ despair had wrung its core,", " That would heal its anguish.", "", "", "Take away those rosy lips,", " Rich with balmy treasure;", "Turn away thine eyes of love,", " Lest I die with pleasure!", "What is life when wanting Love?", " Night without a morning:", "Love’s the cloudless summer sun,", " Nature gay adorning." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Rosalind and Helen. A Modern Eclogue.", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "HELEN:", "Come hither, my sweet Rosalind.", "'Tis long since thou and I have met;", "And yet methinks it were unkind", "Those moments to forget.", "Come, sit by me. I see thee stand", "By this lone lake, in this far land,", "Thy loose hair in the light wind flying,", "Thy sweet voice to each tone of even", "United, and thine eyes replying", "To the hues of yon fair heaven.", "Come, gentle friend: wilt sit by me?", "And be as thou wert wont to be", "Ere we were disunited?", "None doth behold us now; the power", "That led us forth at this lone hour", "Will be but ill requited", "If thou depart in scorn: oh! come,", "And talk of our abandoned home.", "Remember, this is Italy,", "And we are exiles. Talk with me", "Of that our land, whose wilds and floods,", "Barren and dark although they be,", "Were dearer than these chestnut woods:", "Those heathy paths, that inland stream,", "And the blue mountains, shapes which seem", "Like wrecks of childhood's sunny dream:", "Which that we have abandoned now,", "Weighs on the heart like that remorse", "Which altered friendship leaves. I seek", "No more our youthful intercourse.", "That cannot be! Rosalind, speak.", "Speak to me. Leave me not.--When morn did come,", "When evening fell upon our common home,", "When for one hour we parted,--do not frown:", "I would not chide thee, though thy faith is broken:", "But turn to me. Oh! by this cherished token,", "Of woven hair, which thou wilt not disown,", "Turn, as 'twere but the memory of me,", "And not my scorned self who prayed to thee.", "", "ROSALIND:", "Is it a dream, or do I see", "And hear frail Helen? I would flee", "Thy tainting touch; but former years", "Arise, and bring forbidden tears;", "And my o'erburthened memory", "Seeks yet its lost repose in thee.", "I share thy crime. I cannot choose", "But weep for thee: mine own strange grief", "But seldom stoops to such relief:", "Nor ever did I love thee less,", "Though mourning o'er thy wickedness", "Even with a sister's woe. I knew", "What to the evil world is due,", "And therefore sternly did refuse", "To link me with the infamy", "Of one so lost as Helen. Now", "Bewildered by my dire despair,", "Wondering I blush, and weep that thou", "Should'st love me still,--thou only!--There,", "Let us sit on that gray stone", "Till our mournful talk be done.", "", "HELEN:", "Alas! not there; I cannot bear", "The murmur of this lake to hear.", "A sound from there, Rosalind dear,", "Which never yet I heard elsewhere", "But in our native land, recurs,", "Even here where now we meet. It stirs", "Too much of suffocating sorrow!", "In the dell of yon dark chestnutwood", "Is a stone seat, a solitude", "Less like our own. The ghost of Peace", "Will not desert this spot. To-morrow,", "If thy kind feelings should not cease,", "We may sit here.", "", "ROSALIND:", "Thou lead, my sweet,", "And I will follow.", "", "HENRY:", "'Tis Fenici's seat", "Where you are going? This is not the way,", "Mamma; it leads behind those trees that grow", "Close to the little river.", "", "HELEN:", "Yes: I know;", "I was bewildered. Kiss me and be gay,", "Dear boy: why do you sob?", "", "HENRY:", "I do not know:", "But it might break any one's heart to see", "You and the lady cry so bitterly.", "", "HELEN:", "It is a gentle child, my friend. Go home,", "Henry, and play with Lilla till I come.", "We only cried with joy to see each other;", "We are quite merry now: Good-night.", "", "The boy", "Lifted a sudden look upon his mother,", "And in the gleam of forced and hollow joy", "Which lightened o'er her face, laughed with the glee", "Of light and unsuspecting infancy,", "And whispered in her ear, 'Bring home with you", "That sweet strange lady-friend.' Then off he flew,", "But stopped, and beckoned with a meaning smile,", "Where the road turned. Pale Rosalind the while,", "Hiding her face, stood weeping silently.", "", "In silence then they took the way", "Beneath the forest's solitude.", "It was a vast and antique wood,", "Thro' which they took their way;", "And the gray shades of evening", "O'er that green wilderness did fling", "Still deeper solitude.", "Pursuing still the path that wound", "The vast and knotted trees around", "Through which slow shades were wandering,", "To a deep lawny dell they came,", "To a stone seat beside a spring,", "O'er which the columned wood did frame", "A roofless temple, like the fane", "Where, ere new creeds could faith obtain,", "Man's early race once knelt beneath", "The overhanging deity.", "O'er this fair fountain hung the sky,", "Now spangled with rare stars. The snake,", "The pale snake, that with eager breath", "Creeps here his noontide thirst to slake,", "Is beaming with many a mingled hue,", "Shed from yon dome's eternal blue,", "When he floats on that dark and lucid flood", "In the light of his own loveliness;", "And the birds that in the fountain dip", "Their plumes, with fearless fellowship", "Above and round him wheel and hover.", "The fitful wind is heard to stir", "One solitary leaf on high;", "The chirping of the grasshopper", "Fills every pause. There is emotion", "In all that dwells at noontide here;", "Then, through the intricate wild wood,", "A maze of life and light and motion", "Is woven. But there is stillness now:", "Gloom, and the trance of Nature now:", "The snake is in his cave asleep;", "The birds are on the branches dreaming:", "Only the shadows creep:", "Only the glow-worm is gleaming:", "Only the owls and the nightingales", "Wake in this dell when daylight fails,", "And gray shades gather in the woods:", "And the owls have all fled far away", "In a merrier glen to hoot and play,", "For the moon is veiled and sleeping now.", "The accustomed nightingale still broods", "On her accustomed bough,", "But she is mute; for her false mate", "Has fled and left her desolate.", "", "This silent spot tradition old", "Had peopled with the spectral dead.", "For the roots of the speaker's hair felt cold", "And stiff, as with tremulous lips he told", "That a hellish shape at midnight led", "The ghost of a youth with hoary hair,", "And sate on the seat beside him there,", "Till a naked child came wandering by,", "When the fiend would change to a lady fair!", "A fearful tale! The truth was worse:", "For here a sister and a brother", "Had solemnized a monstrous curse,", "Meeting in this fair solitude:", "For beneath yon very sky,", "Had they resigned to one another", "Body and soul. The multitude:", "Tracking them to the secret wood,", "Tore limb from limb their innocent child,", "And stabbed and trampled on its mother;", "But the youth, for God's most holy grace,", "A priest saved to burn in the market-place.", "", "Duly at evening Helen came", "To this lone silent spot,", "From the wrecks of a tale of wilder sorrow", "So much of sympathy to borrow", "As soothed her own dark lot.", "Duly each evening from her home,", "With her fair child would Helen come", "To sit upon that antique seat,", "While the hues of day were pale;", "And the bright boy beside her feet", "Now lay, lifting at intervals", "His broad blue eyes on her;", "Now, where some sudden impulse calls", "Following. He was a gentle boy", "And in all gentle sorts took joy;", "Oft in a dry leaf for a boat,", "With a small feather for a sail,", "His fancy on that spring would float,", "If some invisible breeze might stir", "Its marble calm: and Helen smiled", "Through tears of awe on the gay child,", "To think that a boy as fair as he,", "In years which never more may be,", "By that same fount, in that same wood,", "The like sweet fancies had pursued;", "And that a mother, lost like her,", "Had mournfully sate watching him.", "Then all the scene was wont to swim", "Through the mist of a burning tear.", "", "For many months had Helen known", "This scene; and now she thither turned", "Her footsteps, not alone.", "The friend whose falsehood she had mourned,", "Sate with her on that seat of stone.", "Silent they sate; for evening,", "And the power its glimpses bring", "Had, with one awful shadow, quelled", "The passion of their grief. They sate", "With linked hands, for unrepelled", "Had Helen taken Rosalind's.", "Like the autumn wind, when it unbinds", "The tangled locks of the nightshade's hair,", "Which is twined in the sultry summer air", "Round the walls of an outworn sepulchre,", "Did the voice of Helen, sad and sweet,", "And the sound of her heart that ever beat,", "As with sighs and words she breathed on her,", "Unbind the knots of her friend's despair,", "Till her thoughts were free to float and flow;", "And from her labouring bosom now,", "Like the bursting of a prisoned flame,", "The voice of a long pent sorrow came.", "", "ROSALIND:", "I saw the dark earth fall upon", "The coffin; and I saw the stone", "Laid over him whom this cold breast", "Had pillowed to his nightly rest!", "Thou knowest not, thou canst not know", "My agony. Oh! I could not weep:", "The sources whence such blessings flow", "Were not to be approached by me!", "But I could smile, and I could sleep,", "Though with a self-accusing heart.", "In morning's light, in evening's gloom,", "I watched,--and would not thence depart--", "My husband's unlamented tomb.", "My children knew their sire was gone,", "But when I told them,--'He is dead,'--", "They laughed aloud in frantic glee,", "They clapped their hands and leaped about,", "Answering each other's ecstasy", "With many a prank and merry shout.", "But I sate silent and alone,", "Wrapped in the mock of mourning weed.", "", "They laughed, for he was dead: but I", "Sate with a hard and tearless eye,", "And with a heart which would deny", "The secret joy it could not quell,", "Low muttering o'er his loathed name;", "Till from that self-contention came", "Remorse where sin was none; a hell", "Which in pure spirits should not dwell.", "", "I'll tell thee truth. He was a man", "Hard, selfish, loving only gold,", "Yet full of guile; his pale eyes ran", "With tears, which each some falsehood told,", "And oft his smooth and bridled tongue", "Would give the lie to his flushing cheek;", "He was a coward to the strong:", "He was a tyrant to the weak,", "On whom his vengeance he would wreak:", "For scorn, whose arrows search the heart,", "From many a stranger's eye would dart,", "And on his memory cling, and follow", "His soul to its home so cold and hollow.", "He was a tyrant to the weak,", "And we were such, alas the day!", "Oft, when my little ones at play,", "Were in youth's natural lightness gay,", "Or if they listened to some tale", "Of travellers, or of fairy land,--", "When the light from the wood-fire's dying brand", "Flashed on their faces,--if they heard", "Or thought they heard upon the stair", "His footstep, the suspended word", "Died on my lips: we all grew pale:", "The babe at my bosom was hushed with fear", "If it thought it heard its father near;", "And my two wild boys would near my knee", "Cling, cowed and cowering fearfully.", "", "I'll tell thee truth: I loved another.", "His name in my ear was ever ringing,", "His form to my brain was ever clinging:", "Yet if some stranger breathed that name,", "My lips turned white, and my heart beat fast:", "My nights were once haunted by dreams of flame,", "My days were dim in the shadow cast", "By the memory of the same!", "Day and night, day and night,", "He was my breath and life and light,", "For three short years, which soon were passed.", "On the fourth, my gentle mother", "Led me to the shrine, to be", "His sworn bride eternally.", "And now we stood on the altar stair,", "When my father came from a distant land,", "And with a loud and fearful cry", "Rushed between us suddenly.", "I saw the stream of his thin gray hair,", "I saw his lean and lifted hand,", "And heard his words,--and live! Oh God!", "Wherefore do I live?--'Hold, hold!'", "He cried, 'I tell thee 'tis her brother!", "Thy mother, boy, beneath the sod", "Of yon churchyard rests in her shroud so cold:", "I am now weak, and pale, and old:", "We were once dear to one another,", "I and that corpse! Thou art our child!'", "Then with a laugh both long and wild", "The youth upon the pavement fell:", "They found him dead! All looked on me,", "The spasms of my despair to see:", "But I was calm. I went away:", "I was clammy-cold like clay!", "I did not weep: I did not speak:", "But day by day, week after week,", "I walked about like a corpse alive!", "Alas! sweet friend, you must believe", "This heart is stone: it did not break.", "My father lived a little while,", "But all might see that he was dying,", "He smiled with such a woeful smile!", "When he was in the churchyard lying", "Among the worms, we grew quite poor,", "So that no one would give us bread:", "My mother looked at me, and said", "Faint words of cheer, which only meant", "That she could die and be content;", "So I went forth from the same church door", "To another husband's bed.", "And this was he who died at last,", "When weeks and months and years had passed,", "Through which I firmly did fulfil", "My duties, a devoted wife,", "With the stern step of vanquished will,", "Walking beneath the night of life,", "Whose hours extinguished, like slow rain", "Falling for ever, pain by pain,", "The very hope of death's dear rest;", "Which, since the heart within my breast", "Of natural life was dispossessed,", "Its strange sustainer there had been.", "", "When flowers were dead, and grass was green", "Upon my mother's grave,--that mother", "Whom to outlive, and cheer, and make", "My wan eyes glitter for her sake,", "Was my vowed task, the single care", "Which once gave life to my despair,--", "When she was a thing that did not stir", "And the crawling worms were cradling her", "To a sleep more deep and so more sweet", "Than a baby's rocked on its nurse's knee,", "I lived: a living pulse then beat", "Beneath my heart that awakened me.", "What was this pulse so warm and free?", "Alas! I knew it could not be", "My own dull blood: 'twas like a thought", "Of liquid love, that spread and wrought", "Under my bosom and in my brain,", "And crept with the blood through every vein;", "And hour by hour, day after day,", "The wonder could not charm away,", "But laid in sleep, my wakeful pain,", "Until I knew it was a child,", "And then I wept. For long, long years", "These frozen eyes had shed no tears:", "But now--'twas the season fair and mild", "When April has wept itself to May:", "I sate through the sweet sunny day", "By my window bowered round with leaves,", "And down my cheeks the quick tears fell", "Like twinkling rain-drops from the eaves,", "When warm spring showers are passing o'er.", "O Helen, none can ever tell", "The joy it was to weep once more!", "", "I wept to think how hard it were", "To kill my babe, and take from it", "The sense of light, and the warm air,", "And my own fond and tender care,", "And love and smiles; ere I knew yet", "That these for it might, as for me,", "Be the masks of a grinning mockery.", "And haply, I would dream, 'twere sweet", "To feed it from my faded breast,", "Or mark my own heart's restless beat", "Rock it to its untroubled rest,", "And watch the growing soul beneath", "Dawn in faint smiles; and hear its breath,", "Half interrupted by calm sighs,", "And search the depth of its fair eyes", "For long departed memories!", "And so I lived till that sweet load", "Was lightened. Darkly forward flowed", "The stream of years, and on it bore", "Two shapes of gladness to my sight;", "Two other babes, delightful more", "In my lost soul's abandoned night,", "Than their own country ships may be", "Sailing towards wrecked mariners,", "Who cling to the rock of a wintry sea.", "For each, as it came, brought soothing tears;", "And a loosening warmth, as each one lay", "Sucking the sullen milk away", "About my frozen heart, did play,", "And weaned it, oh how painfully--", "As they themselves were weaned each one", "From that sweet food,--even from the thirst", "Of death, and nothingness, and rest,", "Strange inmate of a living breast!", "Which all that I had undergone", "Of grief and shame, since she, who first", "The gates of that dark refuge closed,", "Came to my sight, and almost burst", "The seal of that Lethean spring;", "But these fair shadows interposed:", "For all delights are shadows now!", "And from my brain to my dull brow", "The heavy tears gather and flow:", "I cannot speak: Oh, let me weep!", "", "The tears which fell from her wan eyes", "Glimmered among the moonlight dew:", "Her deep hard sobs and heavy sighs", "Their echoes in the darkness threw.", "When she grew calm, she thus did keep", "The tenor of her tale:", "He died:", "I know not how: he was not old,", "If age be numbered by its years:", "But he was bowed and bent with fears,", "Pale with the quenchless thirst of gold,", "Which, like fierce fever, left him weak;", "And his strait lip and bloated cheek", "Were warped in spasms by hollow sneers;", "And selfish cares with barren plough,", "Not age, had lined his narrow brow,", "And foul and cruel thoughts, which feed", "Upon the withering life within,", "Like vipers on some poisonous weed.", "Whether his ill were death or sin", "None knew, until he died indeed,", "And then men owned they were the same.", "", "Seven days within my chamber lay", "That corse, and my babes made holiday:", "At last, I told them what is death:", "The eldest, with a kind of shame,", "Came to my knees with silent breath,", "And sate awe-stricken at my feet;", "And soon the others left their play,", "And sate there too. It is unmeet", "To shed on the brief flower of youth", "The withering knowledge of the grave;", "From me remorse then wrung that truth.", "I could not bear the joy which gave", "Too just a response to mine own.", "In vain. I dared not feign a groan,", "And in their artless looks I saw,", "Between the mists of fear and awe,", "That my own thought was theirs, and they", "Expressed it not in words, but said,", "Each in its heart, how every day", "Will pass in happy work and play,", "Now he is dead and gone away.", "", "After the funeral all our kin", "Assembled, and the will was read.", "My friend, I tell thee, even the dead", "Have strength, their putrid shrouds within,", "To blast and torture. Those who live", "Still fear the living, but a corse", "Is merciless, and power doth give", "To such pale tyrants half the spoil", "He rends from those who groan and toil,", "Because they blush not with remorse", "Among their crawling worms. Behold,", "I have no child! my tale grows old", "With grief, and staggers: let it reach", "The limits of my feeble speech,", "And languidly at length recline", "On the brink of its own grave and mine.", "", "Thou knowest what a thing is Poverty", "Among the fallen on evil days:", "'Tis Crime, and Fear, and Infamy,", "And houseless Want in frozen ways", "Wandering ungarmented, and Pain,", "And, worse than all, that inward stain", "Foul Self-contempt, which drowns in sneers", "Youth's starlight smile, and makes its tears", "First like hot gall, then dry for ever!", "And well thou knowest a mother never", "Could doom her children to this ill,", "And well he knew the same. The will", "Imported, that if e'er again", "I sought my children to behold,", "Or in my birthplace did remain", "Beyond three days, whose hours were told,", "They should inherit nought: and he,", "To whom next came their patrimony,", "A sallow lawyer, cruel and cold,", "Aye watched me, as the will was read,", "With eyes askance, which sought to see", "The secrets of my agony;", "And with close lips and anxious brow", "Stood canvassing still to and fro", "The chance of my resolve, and all", "The dead man's caution just did call;", "For in that killing lie 'twas said--", "'She is adulterous, and doth hold", "In secret that the Christian creed", "Is false, and therefore is much need", "That I should have a care to save", "My children from eternal fire.'", "Friend, he was sheltered by the grave,", "And therefore dared to be a liar!", "In truth, the Indian on the pyre", "Of her dead husband, half consumed,", "As well might there be false, as I", "To those abhorred embraces doomed,", "Far worse than fire's brief agony", "As to the Christian creed, if true", "Or false, I never questioned it:", "I took it as the vulgar do:", "Nor my vexed soul had leisure yet", "To doubt the things men say, or deem", "That they are other than they seem.", "", "All present who those crimes did hear,", "In feigned or actual scorn and fear,", "Men, women, children, slunk away,", "Whispering with self-contented pride,", "Which half suspects its own base lie.", "I spoke to none, nor did abide,", "But silently I went my way,", "Nor noticed I where joyously", "Sate my two younger babes at play,", "In the court-yard through which I passed;", "But went with footsteps firm and fast", "Till I came to the brink of the ocean green,", "And there, a woman with gray hairs,", "Who had my mother's servant been,", "Kneeling, with many tears and prayers,", "Made me accept a purse of gold,", "Half of the earnings she had kept", "To refuge her when weak and old.", "", "With woe, which never sleeps or slept,", "I wander now. 'Tis a vain thought--", "But on yon alp, whose snowy head", "'Mid the azure air is islanded,", "(We see it o'er the flood of cloud,", "Which sunrise from its eastern caves", "Drives, wrinkling into golden waves,", "Hung with its precipices proud,", "From that gray stone where first we met)", "There now--who knows the dead feel nought?--", "Should be my grave; for he who yet", "Is my soul's soul, once said: ''Twere sweet", "'Mid stars and lightnings to abide,", "And winds and lulling snows, that beat", "With their soft flakes the mountain wide,", "Where weary meteor lamps repose,", "And languid storms their pinions close:", "And all things strong and bright and pure,", "And ever during, aye endure:", "Who knows, if one were buried there,", "But these things might our spirits make,", "Amid the all-surrounding air,", "Their own eternity partake?'", "Then 'twas a wild and playful saying", "At which I laughed, or seemed to laugh:", "They were his words: now heed my praying,", "And let them be my epitaph.", "Thy memory for a term may be", "My monument. Wilt remember me?", "I know thou wilt, and canst forgive", "Whilst in this erring world to live", "My soul disdained not, that I thought", "Its lying forms were worthy aught", "And much less thee.", "", "HELEN:", "O speak not so,", "But come to me and pour thy woe", "Into this heart, full though it be,", "Ay, overflowing with its own:", "I thought that grief had severed me", "From all beside who weep and groan;", "Its likeness upon earth to be,", "Its express image; but thou art", "More wretched. Sweet! we will not part", "Henceforth, if death be not division;", "If so, the dead feel no contrition.", "But wilt thou hear since last we parted", "All that has left me broken hearted?", "", "ROSALIND:", "Yes, speak. The faintest stars are scarcely shorn", "Of their thin beams by that delusive morn", "Which sinks again in darkness, like the light", "Of early love, soon lost in total night.", "", "HELEN:", "Alas! Italian winds are mild,", "But my bosom is cold--wintry cold--", "When the warm air weaves, among the fresh leaves,", "Soft music, my poor brain is wild,", "And I am weak like a nursling child,", "Though my soul with grief is gray and old.", "", "ROSALIND:", "Weep not at thine own words, though they must make", "Me weep. What is thy tale?", "", "HELEN:", "I fear 'twill shake", "Thy gentle heart with tears. Thou well", "Rememberest when we met no more,", "And, though I dwelt with Lionel,", "That friendless caution pierced me sore", "With grief; a wound my spirit bore", "Indignantly, but when he died,", "With him lay dead both hope and pride.", "Alas! all hope is buried now.", "But then men dreamed the aged earth", "Was labouring in that mighty birth,", "Which many a poet and a sage", "Has aye foreseen--the happy age", "When truth and love shall dwell below", "Among the works and ways of men;", "Which on this world not power but will", "Even now is wanting to fulfil.", "", "Among mankind what thence befell", "Of strife, how vain, is known too well;", "When Liberty's dear paean fell", "'Mid murderous howls. To Lionel,", "Though of great wealth and lineage high,", "Yet through those dungeon walls there came", "Thy thrilling light, O Liberty!", "And as the meteor's midnight flame", "Startles the dreamer, sun-like truth", "Flashed on his visionary youth,", "And filled him, not with love, but faith,", "And hope, and courage mute in death;", "For love and life in him were twins,", "Born at one birth: in every other", "First life then love its course begins,", "Though they be children of one mother;", "And so through this dark world they fleet", "Divided, till in death they meet;", "But he loved all things ever. Then", "He passed amid the strife of men,", "And stood at the throne of armed power", "Pleading for a world of woe:", "Secure as one on a rock-built tower", "O'er the wrecks which the surge trails to and fro,", "'Mid the passions wild of human kind", "He stood, like a spirit calming them;", "For, it was said, his words could bind", "Like music the lulled crowd, and stem", "That torrent of unquiet dream", "Which mortals truth and reason deem,", "But is revenge and fear and pride.", "Joyous he was; and hope and peace", "On all who heard him did abide,", "Raining like dew from his sweet talk,", "As where the evening star may walk", "Along the brink of the gloomy seas,", "Liquid mists of splendour quiver.", "His very gestures touched to tears", "The unpersuaded tyrant, never", "So moved before: his presence stung", "The torturers with their victim's pain,", "And none knew how; and through their ears", "The subtle witchcraft of his tongue", "Unlocked the hearts of those who keep", "Gold, the world's bond of slavery.", "Men wondered, and some sneered to see", "One sow what he could never reap:", "For he is rich, they said, and young,", "And might drink from the depths of luxury.", "If he seeks Fame, Fame never crowned", "The champion of a trampled creed:", "If he seeks Power, Power is enthroned", "'Mid ancient rights and wrongs, to feed", "Which hungry wolves with praise and spoil,", "Those who would sit near Power must toil;", "And such, there sitting, all may see.", "What seeks he? All that others seek", "He casts away, like a vile weed", "Which the sea casts unreturningly.", "That poor and hungry men should break", "The laws which wreak them toil and scorn,", "We understand; but Lionel", "We know, is rich and nobly born.", "So wondered they: yet all men loved", "Young Lionel, though few approved;", "All but the priests, whose hatred fell", "Like the unseen blight of a smiling day,", "The withering honey dew, which clings", "Under the bright green buds of May,", "Whilst they unfold their emerald wings:", "For he made verses wild and queer", "On the strange creeds priests hold so dear,", "Because they bring them land and gold.", "Of devils and saints and all such gear,", "He made tales which whoso heard or read", "Would laugh till he were almost dead.", "So this grew a proverb: 'Don't get old", "Till Lionel's \"Banquet in Hell\" you hear,", "And then you will laugh yourself young again.'", "So the priests hated him, and he", "Repaid their hate with cheerful glee.", "", "Ah, smiles and joyance quickly died,", "For public hope grew pale and dim", "In an altered time and tide,", "And in its wasting withered him,", "As a summer flower that blows too soon", "Droops in the smile of the waning moon,", "When it scatters through an April night", "The frozen dews of wrinkling blight.", "None now hoped more. Gray Power was seated", "Safely on her ancestral throne;", "And Faith, the Python, undefeated,", "Even to its blood-stained steps dragged on", "Her foul and wounded train, and men", "Were trampled and deceived again,", "And words and shows again could bind", "The wailing tribes of human kind", "In scorn and famine. Fire and blood", "Raged round the raging multitude,", "To fields remote by tyrants sent", "To be the scorned instrument", "With which they drag from mines of gore", "The chains their slaves yet ever wore:", "And in the streets men met each other,", "And by old altars and in halls,", "And smiled again at festivals.", "But each man found in his heart's brother", "Cold cheer; for all, though half deceived,", "The outworn creeds again believed,", "And the same round anew began,", "Which the weary world yet ever ran.", "", "Many then wept, not tears, but gall", "Within their hearts, like drops which fall", "Wasting the fountain-stone away.", "And in that dark and evil day", "Did all desires and thoughts, that claim", "Men's care--ambition, friendship, fame,", "Love, hope, though hope was now despair--", "Indue the colours of this change,", "As from the all-surrounding air", "The earth takes hues obscure and strange,", "When storm and earthquake linger there.", "", "And so, my friend, it then befell", "To many, most to Lionel,", "Whose hope was like the life of youth", "Within him, and when dead, became", "A spirit of unresting flame,", "Which goaded him in his distress", "Over the world's vast wilderness.", "Three years he left his native land,", "And on the fourth, when he returned,", "None knew him: he was stricken deep", "With some disease of mind, and turned", "Into aught unlike Lionel.", "On him, on whom, did he pause in sleep,", "Serenest smiles were wont to keep,", "And, did he wake, a winged band", "Of bright persuasions, which had fed", "On his sweet lips and liquid eyes,", "Kept their swift pinions half outspread", "To do on men his least command;", "On him, whom once 'twas paradise", "Even to behold, now misery lay:", "In his own heart 'twas merciless,", "To all things else none may express", "Its innocence and tenderness.", "", "'Twas said that he had refuge sought", "In love from his unquiet thought", "In distant lands, and been deceived", "By some strange show; for there were found,", "Blotted with tears as those relieved", "By their own words are wont to do,", "These mournful verses on the ground,", "By all who read them blotted too.", "", "'How am I changed! my hopes were once like fire:", "I loved, and I believed that life was love.", "How am I lost! on wings of swift desire", "Among Heaven's winds my spirit once did move.", "I slept, and silver dreams did aye inspire", "My liquid sleep: I woke, and did approve", "All nature to my heart, and thought to make", "A paradise of earth for one sweet sake.", "", "'I love, but I believe in love no more.", "I feel desire, but hope not. O, from sleep", "Most vainly must my weary brain implore", "Its long lost flattery now: I wake to weep,", "And sit through the long day gnawing the core", "Of my bitter heart, and, like a miser, keep,", "Since none in what I feel take pain or pleasure,", "To my own soul its self-consuming treasure.'", "", "He dwelt beside me near the sea;", "And oft in evening did we meet,", "When the waves, beneath the starlight, flee", "O'er the yellow sands with silver feet,", "And talked: our talk was sad and sweet,", "Till slowly from his mien there passed", "The desolation which it spoke;", "And smiles,--as when the lightning's blast", "Has parched some heaven-delighting oak,", "The next spring shows leaves pale and rare,", "But like flowers delicate and fair,", "On its rent boughs,--again arrayed", "His countenance in tender light:", "His words grew subtile fire, which made", "The air his hearers breathed delight:", "His motions, like the winds, were free,", "Which bend the bright grass gracefully,", "Then fade away in circlets faint:", "And winged Hope, on which upborne", "His soul seemed hovering in his eyes,", "Like some bright spirit newly born", "Floating amid the sunny skies,", "Sprang forth from his rent heart anew.", "Yet o'er his talk, and looks, and mien,", "Tempering their loveliness too keen,", "Past woe its shadow backward threw,", "Till like an exhalation, spread", "From flowers half drunk with evening dew,", "They did become infectious: sweet", "And subtle mists of sense and thought:", "Which wrapped us soon, when we might meet,", "Almost from our own looks and aught", "The wild world holds. And so, his mind", "Was healed, while mine grew sick with fear:", "For ever now his health declined,", "Like some frail bark which cannot bear", "The impulse of an altered wind,", "Though prosperous: and my heart grew full", "'Mid its new joy of a new care:", "For his cheek became, not pale, but fair,", "As rose-o'ershadowed lilies are;", "And soon his deep and sunny hair,", "In this alone less beautiful,", "Like grass in tombs grew wild and rare.", "The blood in his translucent veins", "Beat, not like animal life, but love", "Seemed now its sullen springs to move,", "When life had failed, and all its pains:", "And sudden sleep would seize him oft", "Like death, so calm, but that a tear,", "His pointed eyelashes between,", "Would gather in the light serene", "Of smiles, whose lustre bright and soft", "Beneath lay undulating there.", "His breath was like inconstant flame,", "As eagerly it went and came;", "And I hung o'er him in his sleep,", "Till, like an image in the lake", "Which rains disturb, my tears would break", "The shadow of that slumber deep:", "Then he would bid me not to weep,", "And say, with flattery false, yet sweet,", "That death and he could never meet,", "If I would never part with him.", "And so we loved, and did unite", "All that in us was yet divided:", "For when he said, that many a rite,", "By men to bind but once provided,", "Could not be shared by him and me,", "Or they would kill him in their glee,", "I shuddered, and then laughing said--", "'We will have rites our faith to bind,", "But our church shall be the starry night,", "Our altar the grassy earth outspread,", "And our priest the muttering wind.'", "", "'Twas sunset as I spoke: one star", "Had scarce burst forth, when from afar", "The ministers of misrule sent,", "Seized upon Lionel, and bore", "His chained limbs to a dreary tower,", "In the midst of a city vast and wide.", "For he, they said, from his mind had bent", "Against their gods keen blasphemy,", "For which, though his soul must roasted be", "In hell's red lakes immortally,", "Yet even on earth must he abide", "The vengeance of their slaves: a trial,", "I think, men call it. What avail", "Are prayers and tears, which chase denial", "From the fierce savage, nursed in hate?", "What the knit soul that pleading and pale", "Makes wan the quivering cheek, which late", "It painted with its own delight?", "We were divided. As I could,", "I stilled the tingling of my blood,", "And followed him in their despite,", "As a widow follows, pale and wild,", "The murderers and corse of her only child;", "And when we came to the prison door", "And I prayed to share his dungeon floor", "With prayers which rarely have been spurned,", "And when men drove me forth and I", "Stared with blank frenzy on the sky,", "A farewell look of love he turned,", "Half calming me; then gazed awhile,", "As if thro' that black and massy pile,", "And thro' the crowd around him there,", "And thro' the dense and murky air,", "And the thronged streets, he did espy", "What poets know and prophesy;", "And said, with voice that made them shiver", "And clung like music in my brain,", "And which the mute walls spoke again", "Prolonging it with deepened strain:", "'Fear not the tyrants shall rule for ever,", "Or the priests of the bloody faith;", "They stand on the brink of that mighty river,", "Whose waves they have tainted with death:", "It is fed from the depths of a thousand dells,", "Around them it foams, and rages, and swells,", "And their swords and their sceptres I floating see,", "Like wrecks in the surge of eternity.'", "", "I dwelt beside the prison gate;", "And the strange crowd that out and in", "Passed, some, no doubt, with mine own fate,", "Might have fretted me with its ceaseless din,", "But the fever of care was louder within.", "Soon, but too late, in penitence", "Or fear, his foes released him thence:", "I saw his thin and languid form,", "As leaning on the jailor's arm,", "Whose hardened eyes grew moist the while,", "To meet his mute and faded smile,", "And hear his words of kind farewell,", "He tottered forth from his damp cell.", "Many had never wept before,", "From whom fast tears then gushed and fell:", "Many will relent no more,", "Who sobbed like infants then; aye, all", "Who thronged the prison's stony hall,", "The rulers or the slaves of law,", "Felt with a new surprise and awe", "That they were human, till strong shame", "Made them again become the same.", "The prison blood-hounds, huge and grim,", "From human looks the infection caught,", "And fondly crouched and fawned on him;", "And men have heard the prisoners say,", "Who in their rotting dungeons lay,", "That from that hour, throughout one day,", "The fierce despair and hate which kept", "Their trampled bosoms almost slept:", "Where, like twin vultures, they hung feeding", "On each heart's wound, wide torn and bleeding,--", "Because their jailors' rule, they thought,", "Grew merciful, like a parent's sway.", "", "I know not how, but we were free:", "And Lionel sate alone with me,", "As the carriage drove thro' the streets apace;", "And we looked upon each other's face;", "And the blood in our fingers intertwined", "Ran like the thoughts of a single mind,", "As the swift emotions went and came", "Thro' the veins of each united frame.", "So thro' the long long streets we passed", "Of the million-peopled City vast;", "Which is that desert, where each one", "Seeks his mate yet is alone,", "Beloved and sought and mourned of none;", "Until the clear blue sky was seen,", "And the grassy meadows bright and green,", "And then I sunk in his embrace,", "Enclosing there a mighty space", "Of love: and so we travelled on", "By woods, and fields of yellow flowers,", "And towns, and villages, and towers,", "Day after day of happy hours.", "It was the azure time of June,", "When the skies are deep in the stainless noon,", "And the warm and fitful breezes shake", "The fresh green leaves of the hedgerow briar,", "And there were odours then to make", "The very breath we did respire", "A liquid element, whereon", "Our spirits, like delighted things", "That walk the air on subtle wings,", "Floated and mingled far away,", "'Mid the warm winds of the sunny day.", "And when the evening star came forth", "Above the curve of the new bent moon,", "And light and sound ebbed from the earth,", "Like the tide of the full and the weary sea", "To the depths of its own tranquillity,", "Our natures to its own repose", "Did the earth's breathless sleep attune:", "Like flowers, which on each other close", "Their languid leaves when daylight's gone,", "We lay, till new emotions came,", "Which seemed to make each mortal frame", "One soul of interwoven flame,", "A life in life, a second birth", "In worlds diviner far than earth,", "Which, like two strains of harmony", "That mingle in the silent sky", "Then slowly disunite, passed by", "And left the tenderness of tears,", "A soft oblivion of all fears,", "A sweet sleep: so we travelled on", "Till we came to the home of Lionel,", "Among the mountains wild and lone,", "Beside the hoary western sea,", "Which near the verge of the echoing shore", "The massy forest shadowed o'er.", "", "The ancient steward, with hair all hoar,", "As we alighted, wept to see", "His master changed so fearfully;", "And the old man's sobs did waken me", "From my dream of unremaining gladness;", "The truth flashed o'er me like quick madness", "When I looked, and saw that there was death", "On Lionel: yet day by day", "He lived, till fear grew hope and faith,", "And in my soul I dared to say,", "Nothing so bright can pass away:", "Death is dark, and foul, and dull,", "But he is--O how beautiful!", "Yet day by day he grew more weak,", "And his sweet voice, when he might speak,", "Which ne'er was loud, became more low;", "And the light which flashed through his waxen cheek", "Grew faint, as the rose-like hues which flow", "From sunset o'er the Alpine snow:", "And death seemed not like death in him,", "For the spirit of life o'er every limb", "Lingered, a mist of sense and thought.", "When the summer wind faint odours brought", "From mountain flowers, even as it passed", "His cheek would change, as the noonday sea", "Which the dying breeze sweeps fitfully.", "If but a cloud the sky o'ercast,", "You might see his colour come and go,", "And the softest strain of music made", "Sweet smiles, yet sad, arise and fade", "Amid the dew of his tender eyes;", "And the breath, with intermitting flow,", "Made his pale lips quiver and part.", "You might hear the beatings of his heart,", "Quick, but not strong; and with my tresses", "When oft he playfully would bind", "In the bowers of mossy lonelinesses", "His neck, and win me so to mingle", "In the sweet depth of woven caresses,", "And our faint limbs were intertwined,", "Alas! the unquiet life did tingle", "From mine own heart through every vein,", "Like a captive in dreams of liberty,", "Who beats the walls of his stony cell.", "But his, it seemed already free,", "Like the shadow of fire surrounding me!", "On my faint eyes and limbs did dwell", "That spirit as it passed, till soon,", "As a frail cloud wandering o'er the moon,", "Beneath its light invisible,", "Is seen when it folds its gray wings again", "To alight on midnight's dusky plain,", "I lived and saw, and the gathering soul", "Passed from beneath that strong control,", "And I fell on a life which was sick with fear", "Of all the woe that now I bear.", "", "Amid a bloomless myrtle wood,", "On a green and sea-girt promontory,", "Not far from where we dwelt, there stood", "In record of a sweet sad story,", "An altar and a temple bright", "Circled by steps, and o'er the gate", "Was sculptured, 'To Fidelity;'", "And in the shrine an image sate,", "All veiled: but there was seen the light", "Of smiles which faintly could express", "A mingled pain and tenderness", "Through that ethereal drapery.", "The left hand held the head, the right--", "Beyond the veil, beneath the skin,", "You might see the nerves quivering within--", "Was forcing the point of a barbed dart", "Into its side-convulsing heart.", "An unskilled hand, yet one informed", "With genius, had the marble warmed", "With that pathetic life. This tale", "It told: A dog had from the sea,", "When the tide was raging fearfully,", "Dragged Lionel's mother, weak and pale,", "Then died beside her on the sand,", "And she that temple thence had planned;", "But it was Lionel's own hand", "Had wrought the image. Each new moon", "That lady did, in this lone fane,", "The rites of a religion sweet,", "Whose god was in her heart and brain:", "The seasons' loveliest flowers were strewn", "On the marble floor beneath her feet,", "And she brought crowns of sea-buds white", "Whose odour is so sweet and faint,", "And weeds, like branching chrysolite,", "Woven in devices fine and quaint.", "And tears from her brown eyes did stain", "The altar: need but look upon", "That dying statue fair and wan,", "If tears should cease, to weep again:", "And rare Arabian odours came,", "Through the myrtle copses steaming thence", "From the hissing frankincense,", "Whose smoke, wool-white as ocean foam,", "Hung in dense flocks beneath the dome--", "That ivory dome, whose azure night", "With golden stars, like heaven, was bright--", "O'er the split cedar's pointed flame;", "And the lady's harp would kindle there", "The melody of an old air,", "Softer than sleep; the villagers", "Mixed their religion up with hers,", "And, as they listened round, shed tears.", "", "One eve he led me to this fane:", "Daylight on its last purple cloud", "Was lingering gray, and soon her strain", "The nightingale began; now loud,", "Climbing in circles the windless sky,", "Now dying music; suddenly", "'Tis scattered in a thousand notes,", "And now to the hushed ear it floats", "Like field smells known in infancy,", "Then failing, soothes the air again.", "We sate within that temple lone,", "Pavilioned round with Parian stone:", "His mother's harp stood near, and oft", "I had awakened music soft", "Amid its wires: the nightingale", "Was pausing in her heaven-taught tale:", "'Now drain the cup,' said Lionel,", "'Which the poet-bird has crowned so well", "With the wine of her bright and liquid song!", "Heardst thou not sweet words among", "That heaven-resounding minstrelsy?", "Heard'st thou not that those who die", "Awake in a world of ecstasy?", "That love, when limbs are interwoven,", "And sleep, when the night of life is cloven,", "And thought, to the world's dim boundaries clinging,", "And music, when one beloved is singing,", "Is death? Let us drain right joyously", "The cup which the sweet bird fills for me.'", "He paused, and to my lips he bent", "His own: like spirit his words went", "Through all my limbs with the speed of fire;", "And his keen eyes, glittering through mine,", "Filled me with the flame divine,", "Which in their orbs was burning far,", "Like the light of an unmeasured star,", "In the sky of midnight dark and deep:", "Yes, 'twas his soul that did inspire", "Sounds, which my skill could ne'er awaken;", "And first, I felt my fingers sweep", "The harp, and a long quivering cry", "Burst from my lips in symphony:", "The dusk and solid air was shaken,", "As swift and swifter the notes came", "From my touch, that wandered like quick flame,", "And from my bosom, labouring", "With some unutterable thing:", "The awful sound of my own voice made", "My faint lips tremble; in some mood", "Of wordless thought Lionel stood", "So pale, that even beside his cheek", "The snowy column from its shade", "Caught whiteness: yet his countenance,", "Raised upward, burned with radiance", "Of spirit-piercing joy, whose light,", "Like the moon struggling through the night", "Of whirlwind-rifted clouds, did break", "With beams that might not be confined.", "I paused, but soon his gestures kindled", "New power, as by the moving wind", "The waves are lifted, and my song", "To low soft notes now changed and dwindled,", "And from the twinkling wires among,", "My languid fingers drew and flung", "Circles of life-dissolving sound,", "Yet faint; in aery rings they bound", "My Lionel, who, as every strain", "Grew fainter but more sweet, his mien", "Sunk with the sound relaxedly;", "And slowly now he turned to me,", "As slowly faded from his face", "That awful joy: with looks serene", "He was soon drawn to my embrace,", "And my wild song then died away", "In murmurs: words I dare not say", "We mixed, and on his lips mine fed", "Till they methought felt still and cold:", "'What is it with thee, love?' I said:", "No word, no look, no motion! yes,", "There was a change, but spare to guess,", "Nor let that moment's hope be told.", "I looked, and knew that he was dead,", "And fell, as the eagle on the plain", "Falls when life deserts her brain,", "And the mortal lightning is veiled again.", "", "O that I were now dead! but such", "(Did they not, love, demand too much,", "Those dying murmurs?) he forbade.", "O that I once again were mad!", "And yet, dear Rosalind, not so,", "For I would live to share thy woe.", "Sweet boy! did I forget thee too?", "Alas, we know not what we do", "When we speak words.", "No memory more", "Is in my mind of that sea shore.", "Madness came on me, and a troop", "Of misty shapes did seem to sit", "Beside me, on a vessel's poop,", "And the clear north wind was driving it.", "Then I heard strange tongues, and saw strange flowers,", "And the stars methought grew unlike ours,", "And the azure sky and the stormless sea", "Made me believe that I had died,", "And waked in a world, which was to me", "Drear hell, though heaven to all beside:", "Then a dead sleep fell on my mind,", "Whilst animal life many long years", "Had rescued from a chasm of tears;", "And when I woke, I wept to find", "That the same lady, bright and wise,", "With silver locks and quick brown eyes,", "The mother of my Lionel,", "Had tended me in my distress,", "And died some months before. Nor less", "Wonder, but far more peace and joy,", "Brought in that hour my lovely boy;", "For through that trance my soul had well", "The impress of thy being kept;", "And if I waked, or if I slept,", "No doubt, though memory faithless be,", "Thy image ever dwelt on me;", "And thus, O Lionel, like thee", "Is our sweet child. 'Tis sure most strange", "I knew not of so great a change,", "As that which gave him birth, who now", "Is all the solace of my woe.", "", "That Lionel great wealth had left", "By will to me, and that of all", "The ready lies of law bereft", "My child and me, might well befall.", "But let me think not of the scorn,", "Which from the meanest I have borne,", "When, for my child's beloved sake,", "I mixed with slaves, to vindicate", "The very laws themselves do make:", "Let me not say scorn is my fate,", "Lest I be proud, suffering the same", "With those who live in deathless fame.", "", "She ceased.--'Lo, where red morning thro' the woods", "Is burning o'er the dew;' said Rosalind.", "And with these words they rose, and towards the flood", "Of the blue lake, beneath the leaves now wind", "With equal steps and fingers intertwined:", "Thence to a lonely dwelling, where the shore", "Is shadowed with steep rocks, and cypresses", "Cleave with their dark green cones the silent skies,", "And with their shadows the clear depths below,", "And where a little terrace from its bowers,", "Of blooming myrtle and faint lemon-flowers,", "Scatters its sense-dissolving fragrance o'er", "The liquid marble of the windless lake;", "And where the aged forest's limbs look hoar,", "Under the leaves which their green garments make,", "They come: 'Tis Helen's home, and clean and white,", "Like one which tyrants spare on our own land", "In some such solitude, its casements bright", "Shone through their vine-leaves in the morning sun,", "And even within 'twas scarce like Italy.", "And when she saw how all things there were planned,", "As in an English home, dim memory", "Disturbed poor Rosalind: she stood as one", "Whose mind is where his body cannot be,", "Till Helen led her where her child yet slept,", "And said, 'Observe, that brow was Lionel's,", "Those lips were his, and so he ever kept", "One arm in sleep, pillowing his head with it.", "You cannot see his eyes--they are two wells", "Of liquid love: let us not wake him yet.'", "But Rosalind could bear no more, and wept", "A shower of burning tears, which fell upon", "His face, and so his opening lashes shone", "With tears unlike his own, as he did leap", "In sudden wonder from his innocent sleep.", "", "So Rosalind and Helen lived together", "Thenceforth, changed in all else, yet friends again,", "Such as they were, when o'er the mountain heather", "They wandered in their youth, through sun and rain.", "And after many years, for human things", "Change even like the ocean and the wind,", "Her daughter was restored to Rosalind,", "And in their circle thence some visitings", "Of joy 'mid their new calm would intervene:", "A lovely child she was, of looks serene,", "And motions which o'er things indifferent shed", "The grace and gentleness from whence they came.", "And Helen's boy grew with her, and they fed", "From the same flowers of thought, until each mind", "Like springs which mingle in one flood became,", "And in their union soon their parents saw", "The shadow of the peace denied to them.", "And Rosalind, for when the living stem", "Is cankered in its heart, the tree must fall,", "Died ere her time; and with deep grief and awe", "The pale survivors followed her remains", "Beyond the region of dissolving rains,", "Up the cold mountain she was wont to call", "Her tomb; and on Chiavenna's precipice", "They raised a pyramid of lasting ice,", "Whose polished sides, ere day had yet begun,", "Caught the first glow of the unrisen sun,", "The last, when it had sunk; and thro' the night", "The charioteers of Arctos wheeled round", "Its glittering point, as seen from Helen's home,", "Whose sad inhabitants each year would come,", "With willing steps climbing that rugged height,", "And hang long locks of hair, and garlands bound", "With amaranth flowers, which, in the clime's despite,", "Filled the frore air with unaccustomed light:", "Such flowers, as in the wintry memory bloom", "Of one friend left, adorned that frozen tomb.", "", "Helen, whose spirit was of softer mould,", "Whose sufferings too were less, Death slowlier led", "Into the peace of his dominion cold:", "She died among her kindred, being old.", "And know, that if love die not in the dead", "As in the living, none of mortal kind", "Are blest, as now Helen and Rosalind." ], "linecount": "1341" }, { "title": "Endymion (For Music)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "The apple trees are hung with gold,", "And birds are loud in Arcady,", "The sheep lie bleating in the fold,", "The wild goat runs across the wold,", "But yesterday his love he told,", "I know he will come back to me.", "O rising moon! O Lady moon!", "Be you my lover's sentinel,", "You cannot choose but know him well,", "For he is shod with purple shoon,", "You cannot choose but know my love,", "For he a shepherd's crook doth bear,", "And he is soft as any dove,", "And brown and curly is his hair.", "", "The turtle now has ceased to call", "Upon her crimson-footed groom,", "The grey wolf prowls about the stall,", "The lily's singing seneschal", "Sleeps in the lily-bell, and all", "The violet hills are lost in gloom.", "O risen moon! O holy moon!", "Stand on the top of Helice,", "And if my own true love you see,", "Ah! if you see the purple shoon,", "The hazel crook, the lad's brown hair,", "The goat-skin wrapped about his arm,", "Tell him that I am waiting where", "The rushlight glimmers in the Farm.", "", "The falling dew is cold and chill,", "And no bird sings in Arcady,", "The little fauns have left the hill,", "Even the tired daffodil", "Has closed its gilded doors, and still", "My lover comes not back to me.", "False moon! False moon! O waning moon!", "Where is my own true lover gone,", "Where are the lips vermilion,", "The shepherd's crook, the purple shoon?", "Why spread that silver pavilion,", "Why wear that veil of drifting mist?", "Ah! thou hast young Endymion", "Thou hast the lips that should be kissed!" ], "linecount": "42" }, { "title": "The Maid of Ocram or, Lord Gregory", "author": "John Clare", "lines": [ "Gay was the Maid of Ocram", "As lady eer might be", "Ere she did venture past a maid", "To love Lord Gregory.", "Fair was the Maid of Ocram", "And shining like the sun", "Ere her bower key was turned on two", "Where bride bed lay for none.", "", "And late at night she sought her love--", "The snow slept on her skin--", "Get up, she cried, thou false young man,", "And let thy true love in.", "And fain would he have loosed the key", "All for his true love's sake,", "But Lord Gregory then was fast asleep,", "His mother wide awake.", "", "And up she threw the window sash,", "And out her head put she:", "And who is that which knocks so late", "And taunts so loud to me?", "It is the Maid of Ocram,", "Your own heart's next akin;", "For so you've sworn, Lord Gregory,", "To come and let me in.", "", "O pause not thus, you know me well,", "Haste down my way to win.", "The wind disturbs my yellow locks,", "The snow sleeps on my skin.--", "If you be the Maid of Ocram,", "As much I doubt you be,", "Then tell me of three tokens", "That passed with you and me.--", "", "O talk not now of tokens", "Which you do wish to break;", "Chilled are those lips you've kissed so warm,", "And all too numbed to speak.", "You know when in my father's bower", "You left your cloak for mine,", "Though yours was nought but silver twist", "And mine the golden twine.--", "", "If you're the lass of Ocram,", "As I take you not to be,", "The second token you must tell", "Which past with you and me.--", "O know you not, O know you not", "Twas in my father's park,", "You led me out a mile too far", "And courted in the dark?", "", "When you did change your ring for mine", "My yielding heart to win,", "Though mine was of the beaten gold", "Yours but of burnished tin,", "Though mine was all true love without,", "Yours but false love within?", "", "O ask me no more tokens", "For fast the snow doth fall.", "Tis sad to strive and speak in vain,", "You mean to break them all.--", "If you are the Maid of Ocram,", "As I take you not to be,", "You must mention the third token", "That passed with you and me.--", "", "Twas when you stole my maidenhead;", "That grieves me worst of all.--", "Begone, you lying creature, then", "This instant from my hall,", "Or you and your vile baby", "Shall in the deep sea fall;", "For I have none on earth as yet", "That may me father call.--", "", "O must none close my dying feet,", "And must none close my hands,", "And may none bind my yellow locks", "As death for all demands?", "You need not use no force at all,", "Your hard heart breaks the vow;", "You've had your wish against my will", "And you shall have it now.", "", "And must none close my dying feet,", "And must none close my hands,", "And will none do the last kind deeds", "That death for all demands?--", "Your sister, she may close your feet,", "Your brother close your hands,", "Your mother, she may wrap your waist", "In death's fit wedding bands;", "Your father, he may tie your locks", "And lay you in the sands.--", "", "My sister, she will weep in vain,", "My brother ride and run,", "My mother, she will break her heart;", "And ere the rising sun", "My father will be looking out--", "But find me they will none.", "I go to lay my woes to rest,", "None shall know where I'm gone.", "God must be friend and father both,", "Lord Gregory will be none.--", "", "Lord Gregory started up from sleep", "And thought he heard a voice", "That screamed full dreadful in his ear,", "And once and twice and thrice.", "Lord Gregory to his mother called:", "O mother dear, said he,", "I've dreamt the Maid of Ocram", "Was floating on the sea.", "", "Lie still, my son, the mother said,", "Tis but a little space", "And half an hour has scarcely passed", "Since she did pass this place.--", "O cruel, cruel mother,", "When she did pass so nigh", "How could you let me sleep so sound", "Or let her wander bye?", "Now if she's lost my heart must break--", "I'll seek her till I die.", "", "He sought her east, he sought her west,", "He sought through park and plain;", "He sought her where she might have been", "But found her not again.", "I cannot curse thee, mother,", "Though thine's the blame, said he", "I cannot curse thee, mother,", "Though thou'st done worse to me.", "Yet do I curse thy pride that aye", "So tauntingly aspires;", "For my love was a gay knight's heir,", "And my father was a squire's.", "", "And I will sell my park and hall;", "And if ye wed again", "Ye shall not wed for titles twice", "That made ye once so vain.", "So if ye will wed, wed for love,", "As I was fain to do;", "Ye've gave to me a broken heart,", "And I'll give nought to you.", "", "Your pride has wronged your own heart's blood;", "For she was mine by grace,", "And now my lady love is gone", "None else shall take her place.", "I'll sell my park and sell my hall", "And sink my titles too.", "Your pride's done wrong enough as now", "To leave it more to do.", "", "She owneth none that owned them all", "And would have graced them well;", "None else shall take the right she missed", "Nor in my bosom dwell.--", "And then he took and burnt his will", "Before his mother's face,", "And tore his patents all in two,", "While tears fell down apace--", "But in his mother's haughty look", "Ye nought but frowns might trace.", "", "And then he sat him down to grieve,", "But could not sit for pain.", "And then he laid him on the bed", "And ne'er got up again." ], "linecount": "158" }, { "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": "From Spring Days to Winter (For Music)", "author": "Oscar Wilde", "lines": [ "In the glad springtime when leaves were green,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "I sought, amid the tangled sheen,", "Love whom mine eyes had never seen,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "Between the blossoms red and white,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "My love first came into my sight,", "O perfect vision of delight,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "The yellow apples glowed like fire,", "O merrily the throstle sings!", "O Love too great for lip or lyre,", "Blown rose of love and of desire,", "O the glad dove has golden wings!", "", "But now with snow the tree is grey,", "Ah, sadly now the throstle sings!", "My love is dead: ah! well-a-day,", "See at her silent feet I lay", "A dove with broken wings!", "Ah, Love! ah, Love! that thou wert slain -", "Fond Dove, fond Dove return again!" ], "linecount": "22" }, { "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": "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": "Song: The Flowery banks of Cree", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "HERE is the glen, and here the bower", " All underneath the birchen shade;", "The village-bell has told the hour,", " O what can stay my lovely maid?", "", "", "’Tis not Maria’s whispering call;", " ’Tis but the balmy breathing gale,", "Mixt with some warbler’s dying fall,", " The dewy star of eve to hail.", "", "", "It is Maria’s voice I hear;", " So calls the woodlark in the grove,", "His little, faithful mate to cheer;", " At once ’tis music and ’tis love.", "", "", "And art thou come! and art thou true!", " O welcome dear to love and me!", "And let us all our vows renew,", " Along the flowery banks of Cree." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "The Tournament", "author": "Sidney Lanier", "lines": [ "Joust First.", "", "", "I.", "", "Bright shone the lists, blue bent the skies,", "And the knights still hurried amain", "To the tournament under the ladies' eyes,", "Where the jousters were Heart and Brain.", "", "II.", "", "Flourished the trumpets: entered Heart,", "A youth in crimson and gold.", "Flourished again: Brain stood apart,", "Steel-armored, dark and cold.", "", "III.", "", "Heart's palfrey caracoled gayly round,", "Heart tra-li-ra'd merrily;", "But Brain sat still, with never a sound,", "So cynical-calm was he.", "", "IV.", "", "Heart's helmet-crest bore favors three", "From his lady's white hand caught;", "While Brain wore a plumeless casque; not he", "Or favor gave or sought.", "", "V.", "", "The herald blew; Heart shot a glance", "To find his lady's eye,", "But Brain gazed straight ahead his lance", "To aim more faithfully.", "", "VI.", "", "They charged, they struck; both fell, both bled.", "Brain rose again, ungloved,", "Heart, dying, smiled and faintly said,", "\"My love to my beloved!\"", "", "____", "Camp French, Wilmington, N.C., May, 1862.", "", "", "", "Joust Second.", "", "", "I.", "", "A-many sweet eyes wept and wept,", "A-many bosoms heaved again;", "A-many dainty dead hopes slept", "With yonder Heart-knight prone o' the plain.", "", "II.", "", "Yet stars will burn through any mists,", "And the ladies' eyes, through rains of fate,", "Still beamed upon the bloody lists", "And lit the joust of Love and Hate.", "", "III.", "", "O strange! or ere a trumpet blew,", "Or ere a challenge-word was given,", "A knight leapt down i' the lists; none knew", "Whether he sprang from earth or heaven.", "", "IV.", "", "His cheek was soft as a lily-bud,", "His grey eyes calmed his youth's alarm;", "Nor helm nor hauberk nor even a hood", "Had he to shield his life from harm.", "", "V.", "", "No falchion from his baldric swung,", "He wore a white rose in its place.", "No dagger at his girdle hung,", "But only an olive-branch, for grace.", "", "VI.", "", "And \"Come, thou poor mistaken knight,\"", "Cried Love, unarmed, yet dauntless there,", "\"Come on, God pity thee! -- I fight", "Sans sword, sans shield; yet, Hate, beware!\"", "", "VII.", "", "Spurred furious Hate; he foamed at mouth,", "His breath was hot upon the air,", "His breath scorched souls, as a dry drought", "Withers green trees and burns them bare.", "", "VIII.", "", "Straight drives he at his enemy,", "His hairy hands grip lance in rest,", "His lance it gleams full bitterly,", "God! -- gleams, true-point, on Love's bare breast!", "", "IX.", "", "Love's grey eyes glow with a heaven-heat,", "Love lifts his hand in a saintly prayer;", "Look! Hate hath fallen at his feet!", "Look! Hate hath vanished in the air!", "", "X.", "", "Then all the throng looked kind on all;", "Eyes yearned, lips kissed, dumb souls were freed;", "Two magic maids' hands lifted a pall", "And the dead knight, Heart, sprang on his steed.", "", "XI.", "", "Then Love cried, \"Break me his lance, each knight!", "Ye shall fight for blood-athirst Fame no more!\"", "And the knights all doffed their mailed might", "And dealt out dole on dole to the poor.", "", "XII.", "", "Then dove-flights sanctified the plain,", "And hawk and sparrow shared a nest.", "And the great sea opened and swallowed Pain,", "And out of this water-grave floated Rest!" ], "linecount": "94" }, { "title": "Starting from Paumanok", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "STARTING from fish-shape Paumanok, where I was born,", "Well-begotten, and rais’d by a perfect mother;", "After roaming many lands—lover of populous pavements;", "Dweller in Mannahatta, my city—or on southern savannas;", "Or a soldier camp’d, or carrying my knapsack and gun—or a miner in", " California;", "Or rude in my home in Dakota’s woods, my diet meat, my drink from the", " spring;", "Or withdrawn to muse and meditate in some deep recess,", "Far from the clank of crowds, intervals passing, rapt and happy;", "Aware of the fresh free giver, the flowing Missouri—aware of mighty", " Niagara;", "Aware of the buffalo herds, grazing the plains—the hirsute and", " strong-breasted bull;", "Of earth, rocks, Fifth-month flowers, experienced—stars, rain, snow, my", " amaze;", "Having studied the mocking-bird’s tones, and the mountainhawk’s,", "And heard at dusk the unrival’d one, the hermit thrush from the", " swamp-cedars,", "Solitary, singing in the West, I strike up for a New World.", "", "2Victory, union, faith, identity, time,", "The indissoluble compacts, riches, mystery,", "Eternal progress, the kosmos, and the modern reports.", "", "This, then, is life;", "Here is what has come to the surface after so many throes and convulsions.", "", "How curious! how real!", "Underfoot the divine soil—overhead the sun.", "", "See, revolving, the globe;", "The ancestor-continents, away, group’d together;", "The present and future continents, north and south, with the isthmus between.", "", "See, vast, trackless spaces;", "As in a dream, they change, they swiftly fill;", "Countless masses debouch upon them;", "They are now cover’d with the foremost people, arts, institutions, known.", "", "See, projected, through time,", "For me, an audience interminable.", "", "With firm and regular step they wend—they never stop,", "Successions of men, Americanos, a hundred millions;", "One generation playing its part, and passing on;", "Another generation playing its part, and passing on in its turn,", "With faces turn’d sideways or backward towards me, to listen,", "With eyes retrospective towards me,", "", "3Americanos! conquerors! marches humanitarian;", "Foremost! century marches! Libertad! masses!", "For you a programme of chants.", "", "Chants of the prairies;", "Chants of the long-running Mississippi, and down to the Mexican sea;", "Chants of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota;", "Chants going forth from the centre, from Kansas, and thence, equi-distant,", "Shooting in pulses of fire, ceaseless, to vivify all.", "", "4In the Year 80 of The States,", "My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,", "Born here of parents born here, from parents the same, and their parents the", " same,", "I, now thirty-six years old, in perfect health, begin,", "Hoping to cease not till death.", "", "Creeds and schools in abeyance,", "(Retiring back a while, sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,)", "I harbor, for good or bad—I permit to speak, at every hazard,", "Nature now without check, with original energy.", "", "5Take my leaves, America! take them, South, and take them, North!", "Make welcome for them everywhere, for they are your own offspring;", "Surround them, East and West! for they would surround you;", "And you precedents! connect lovingly with them, for they connect lovingly with", " you.", "", "I conn’d old times;", "I sat studying at the feet of the great masters:", "Now, if eligible, O that the great masters might return and study me!", "", "In the name of These States, shall I scorn the antique?", "Why These are the children of the antique, to justify it.", "", "6Dead poets, philosophs, priests,", "Martyrs, artists, inventors, governments long since,", "Language-shapers, on other shores,", "Nations once powerful, now reduced, withdrawn, or desolate,", "I dare not proceed till I respectfully credit what you have left, wafted hither:", "", "I have perused it—own it is admirable, (moving awhile among it;)", "Think nothing can ever be greater—nothing can ever deserve more than it", " deserves;", "Regarding it all intently a long while—then dismissing it,", "I stand in my place, with my own day, here.", "", "Here lands female and male;", "Here the heir-ship and heiress-ship of the world—here the flame of", " materials;", "Here Spirituality, the translatress, the openly-avow’d,", "The ever-tending, the finale of visible forms;", "The satisfier, after due long-waiting, now advancing,", "Yes, here comes my mistress, the Soul.", "", "7The SOUL:", "Forever and forever—longer than soil is brown and solid—longer than", " water ebbs and flows.", "", "I will make the poems of materials, for I think they are to be the most", " spiritual poems;", "And I will make the poems of my body and of mortality,", "For I think I shall then supply myself with the poems of my Soul, and of", " immortality.", "", "I will make a song for These States, that no-one State may under any", " circumstances be subjected to another State;", "And I will make a song that there shall be comity by day and by night between", " all The States, and between any two of them:", "And I will make a song for the ears of the President, full of weapons with", " menacing points,", "And behind the weapons countless dissatisfied faces:", "—And a song make I, of the One form’d out of all;", "The fang’d and glittering One whose head is over all;", "Resolute, warlike One, including and over all;", "(However high the head of any else, that head is over all.)", "", "I will acknowledge contemporary lands;", "I will trail the whole geography of the globe, and salute courteously every city", " large and small;", "And employments! I will put in my poems, that with you is heroism, upon land and", " sea;", "And I will report all heroism from an American point of view.", "", "I will sing the song of companionship;", "I will show what alone must finally compact These;", "I believe These are to found their own ideal of manly love, indicating it in me;", "", "I will therefore let flame from me the burning fires that were threatening to", " consume me;", "I will lift what has too long kept down those smouldering fires;", "I will give them complete abandonment;", "I will write the evangel-poem of comrades, and of love;", "(For who but I should understand love, with all its sorrow and joy?", "And who but I should be the poet of comrades?)", "", "8I am the credulous man of qualities, ages, races;", "I advance from the people in their own spirit;", "Here is what sings unrestricted faith.", "", "Omnes! Omnes! let others ignore what they may;", "I make the poem of evil also—I commemorate that part also;", "I am myself just as much evil as good, and my nation is—And I say there is", " in fact no evil;", "(Or if there is, I say it is just as important to you, to the land, or to me, as", " anything else.)", "", "I too, following many, and follow’d by many, inaugurate a Religion—I", " descend into the arena;", "(It may be I am destin’d to utter the loudest cries there, the", " winner’s pealing shouts;", "Who knows? they may rise from me yet, and soar above every thing.)", "", "Each is not for its own sake;", "I say the whole earth, and all the stars in the sky, are for Religion’s", " sake.", "", "I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough;", "None has ever yet adored or worship’d half enough;", "None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is.", "", "", "I say that the real and permanent grandeur of These States must be their", " Religion;", "Otherwise there is no real and permanent grandeur:", "(Nor character, nor life worthy the name, without Religion;", "Nor land, nor man or woman, without Religion.)", "", "9What are you doing, young man?", "Are you so earnest—so given up to literature, science, art, amours?", "These ostensible realities, politics, points?", "Your ambition or business, whatever it may be?", "", "It is well—Against such I say not a word—I am their poet also;", "But behold! such swiftly subside—burnt up for Religion’s sake;", "For not all matter is fuel to heat, impalpable flame, the essential life of the", " earth,", "Any more than such are to Religion.", "", "10What do you seek, so pensive and silent?", "What do you need, Camerado?", "Dear son! do you think it is love?", "", "Listen, dear son—listen, America, daughter or son!", "It is a painful thing to love a man or woman to excess—and yet it", " satisfies—it is great;", "But there is something else very great—it makes the whole coincide;", "It, magnificent, beyond materials, with continuous hands, sweeps and provides", " for all.", "", "11Know you! solely to drop in the earth the germs of a greater Religion,", "The following chants, each for its kind, I sing.", "", "My comrade!", "For you, to share with me, two greatnesses—and a third one, rising", " inclusive and more resplendent,", "The greatness of Love and Democracy—and the greatness of Religion.", "", "Melange mine own! the unseen and the seen;", "Mysterious ocean where the streams empty;", "Prophetic spirit of materials shifting and flickering around me;", "Living beings, identities, now doubtless near us, in the air, that we know not", " of;", "Contact daily and hourly that will not release me;", "These selecting—these, in hints, demanded of me.", "", "Not he, with a daily kiss, onward from childhood kissing me,", "Has winded and twisted around me that which holds me to him,", "Any more than I am held to the heavens, to the spiritual world,", "And to the identities of the Gods, my lovers, faithful and true,", "After what they have done to me, suggesting themes.", "", "O such themes! Equalities!", "O amazement of things! O divine average!", "O warblings under the sun—usher’d, as now, or at noon, or setting!", "O strain, musical, flowing through ages—now reaching hither!", "I take to your reckless and composite chords—I add to them, and cheerfully", " pass them forward.", "", "12As I have walk’d in Alabama my morning walk,", "I have seen where the she-bird, the mocking-bird, sat on her nest in the briers,", " hatching her brood.", "", "I have seen the he-bird also;", "I have paused to hear him, near at hand, inflating his throat, and joyfully", " singing.", "", "And while I paused, it came to me that what he really sang for was not there", " only,", "Nor for his mate, nor himself only, nor all sent back by the echoes;", "But subtle, clandestine, away beyond,", "A charge transmitted, and gift occult, for those being born.", "", "13Democracy!", "Near at hand to you a throat is now inflating itself and joyfully singing.", "", "Ma femme!", "For the brood beyond us and of us,", "For those who belong here, and those to come,", "I, exultant, to be ready for them, will now shake out carols stronger and", " haughtier than have ever yet been heard upon earth.", "", "I will make the songs of passion, to give them their way,", "And your songs, outlaw’d offenders—for I scan you with kindred eyes,", " and carry you with me the same as any.", "", "I will make the true poem of riches,", "To earn for the body and the mind whatever adheres, and goes forward, and is not", " dropt by death.", "", "I will effuse egotism, and show it underlying all—and I will be the bard of", " personality;", "And I will show of male and female that either is but the equal of the other;", "And sexual organs and acts! do you concentrate in me—for I am", " determin’d to tell you with courageous clear voice, to prove you", " illustrious;", "And I will show that there is no imperfection in the present—and can be", " none in the future;", "And I will show that whatever happens to anybody, it may be turn’d to", " beautiful results—and I will show that nothing can happen more beautiful", " than death;", "And I will thread a thread through my poems that time and events are compact,", "And that all the things of the universe are perfect miracles, each as profound", " as any.", "", "I will not make poems with reference to parts;", "But I will make leaves, poems, poemets, songs, says, thoughts with reference to", " ensemble:", "And I will not sing with reference to a day, but with reference to all days;", "And I will not make a poem, nor the least part of a poem, but has reference to", " the Soul;", "(Because, having look’d at the objects of the universe, I find there is no", " one, nor any particle of one, but has reference to the Soul.)", "", "14Was somebody asking to see the Soul?", "See! your own shape and countenance—persons, substances, beasts, the trees,", " the running rivers, the rocks and sands.", "", "All hold spiritual joys, and afterwards loosen them:", "How can the real body ever die, and be buried?", "", "Of your real body, and any man’s or woman’s real body,", "Item for item, it will elude the hands of the corpse-cleaners, and pass to", " fitting spheres,", "Carrying what has accrued to it from the moment of birth to the moment of death.", "", "Not the types set up by the printer return their impression, the meaning, the", " main concern,", "Any more than a man’s substance and life, or a woman’s substance and", " life, return in the body and the Soul,", "Indifferently before death and after death.", "", "Behold! the body includes and is the meaning, the main concern—and includes", " and is the Soul;", "Whoever you are! how superb and how divine is your body, or any part of it.", "", "15Whoever you are! to you endless announcements.", "", "Daughter of the lands, did you wait for your poet?", "Did you wait for one with a flowing mouth and indicative hand?", "", "Toward the male of The States, and toward the female of The States,", "Live words—words to the lands.", "", "O the lands! interlink’d, food-yielding lands!", "Land of coal and iron! Land of gold! Lands of cotton, sugar, rice!", "Land of wheat, beef, pork! Land of wool and hemp! Land of the apple and grape!", "Land of the pastoral plains, the grass-fields of the world! Land of those", " sweet-air’d interminable plateaus!", "Land of the herd, the garden, the healthy house of adobie!", "Lands where the northwest Columbia winds, and where the southwest Colorado", " winds!", "Land of the eastern Chesapeake! Land of the Delaware!", "Land of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan!", "Land of the Old Thirteen! Massachusetts land! Land of Vermont and Connecticut!", "Land of the ocean shores! Land of sierras and peaks!", "Land of boatmen and sailors! Fishermen’s land!", "Inextricable lands! the clutch’d together! the passionate ones!", "The side by side! the elder and younger brothers! the bony-limb’d!", "The great women’s land! the feminine! the experienced sisters and the", " inexperienced sisters!", "Far breath’d land! Arctic braced! Mexican breez’d! the diverse! the", " compact!", "The Pennsylvanian! the Virginian! the double Carolinian!", "O all and each well-loved by me! my intrepid nations! O I at any rate include", " you all with perfect love!", "I cannot be discharged from you! not from one, any sooner than another!", "O Death! O for all that, I am yet of you, unseen, this hour, with irrepressible", " love,", "Walking New England, a friend, a traveler,", "Splashing my bare feet in the edge of the summer ripples, on Paumanok’s", " sands,", "Crossing the prairies—dwelling again in Chicago—dwelling in every", " town,", "Observing shows, births, improvements, structures, arts,", "Listening to the orators and the oratresses in public halls,", "Of and through The States, as during life—each man and woman my neighbor,", "The Louisianian, the Georgian, as near to me, and I as near to him and her,", "The Mississippian and Arkansian yet with me—and I yet with any of them;", "Yet upon the plains west of the spinal river—yet in my house of adobie,", "Yet returning eastward—yet in the Sea-Side State, or in Maryland,", "Yet Kanadian, cheerily braving the winter—the snow and ice welcome to me,", "Yet a true son either of Maine, or of the Granite State, or of the Narragansett", " Bay State, or of the Empire State;", "Yet sailing to other shores to annex the same—yet welcoming every new", " brother;", "Hereby applying these leaves to the new ones, from the hour they unite with the", " old ones;", "Coming among the new ones myself, to be their companion and equal—coming", " personally to you now;", "Enjoining you to acts, characters, spectacles, with me.", "", "16With me, with firm holding—yet haste, haste on.", "", "For your life, adhere to me!", "Of all the men of the earth, I only can unloose you and toughen you;", "I may have to be persuaded many times before I consent to give myself really to", " you—but what of that?", "Must not Nature be persuaded many times?", "", "No dainty dolce affettuoso I;", "Bearded, sun-burnt, gray-neck’d, forbidding, I have arrived,", "To be wrestled with as I pass, for the solid prizes of the universe;", "For such I afford whoever can persevere to win them.", "", "17On my way a moment I pause;", "Here for you! and here for America!", "Still the Present I raise aloft—Still the Future of The States I harbinge,", " glad and sublime;", "And for the Past, I pronounce what the air holds of the red aborigines.", "", "The red aborigines!", "Leaving natural breaths, sounds of rain and winds, calls as of birds and animals", " in the woods, syllabled to us for names;", "Okonee, Koosa, Ottawa, Monongahela, Sauk, Natchez, Chattahoochee, Kaqueta,", " Oronoco,", "Wabash, Miami, Saginaw, Chippewa, Oshkosh, Walla-Walla;", "Leaving such to The States, they melt, they depart, charging the water and the", " land with names.", "", "18O expanding and swift! O henceforth,", "Elements, breeds, adjustments, turbulent, quick, and audacious;", "A world primal again—Vistas of glory, incessant and branching;", "A new race, dominating previous ones, and grander far—with new contests,", "New politics, new literatures and religions, new inventions and arts.", "", "These! my voice announcing—I will sleep no more, but arise;", "You oceans that have been calm within me! how I feel you, fathomless, stirring,", " preparing unprecedented waves and storms.", "", "19See! steamers steaming through my poems!", "See, in my poems immigrants continually coming and landing;", "See, in arriere, the wigwam, the trail, the hunter’s hut, the flatboat, the", " maize-leaf, the claim, the rude fence, and the backwoods village;", "See, on the one side the Western Sea, and on the other the Eastern Sea, how they", " advance and retreat upon my poems, as upon their own shores.", "", "See, pastures and forests in my poems—See, animals, wild and tame—See,", " beyond the Kanzas, countless herds of buffalo, feeding on short curly grass;", "See, in my poems, cities, solid, vast, inland, with paved streets, with iron and", " stone edifices, ceaseless vehicles, and commerce;", "See, the many-cylinder’d steam printing-press—See, the electric", " telegraph, stretching across the Continent, from the Western Sea to Manhattan;", "See, through Atlantica’s depths, pulses American, Europe", " reaching—pulses of Europe, duly return’d;", "See, the strong and quick locomotive, as it departs, panting, blowing the", " steam-whistle;", "See, ploughmen, ploughing farms—See, miners, digging mines—See, the", " numberless factories;", "See, mechanics, busy at their benches, with tools—See from among them,", " superior judges, philosophs, Presidents, emerge, drest in working dresses;", "See, lounging through the shops and fields of The States, me, well-belov’d,", " close-held by day and night;", "Hear the loud echoes of my songs there! Read the hints come at last.", "", "20O Camerado close!", "O you and me at last—and us two only.", "", "O a word to clear one’s path ahead endlessly!", "O something extatic and undemonstrable! O music wild!", "", "O now I triumph—and you shall also;", "O hand in hand—O wholesome pleasure—O one more desirer and lover!", "O to haste, firm holding—to haste, haste on with me." ], "linecount": "366" }, { "title": "The Sleepers", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "I WANDER all night in my vision,", "Stepping with light feet, swiftly and noiselessly stepping and stopping,", "Bending with open eyes over the shut eyes of sleepers,", "Wandering and confused, lost to myself, ill-assorted, contradictory,", "Pausing, gazing, bending, and stopping.", "", "How solemn they look there, stretch’d and still!", "How quiet they breathe, the little children in their cradles!", "", "The wretched features of ennuyés, the white features of corpses, the livid faces of", " drunkards, the sick-gray faces of onanists,", "The gash’d bodies on battle-fields, the insane in their strong-door’d rooms, the", " sacred", " idiots, the new-born emerging from gates, and the dying emerging from gates,", "The night pervades them and infolds them.", "", "The married couple sleep calmly in their bed—he with his palm on the hip of the wife,", " and", " she", " with her palm on the hip of the husband,", "The sisters sleep lovingly side by side in their bed,", "The men sleep lovingly side by side in theirs,", "And the mother sleeps, with her little child carefully wrapt.", "", "The blind sleep, and the deaf and dumb sleep,", "The prisoner sleeps well in the prison—the run-away son sleeps;", "The murderer that is to be hung next day—how does he sleep?", "And the murder’d person—how does he sleep?", "", "The female that loves unrequited sleeps,", "And the male that loves unrequited sleeps,", "The head of the money-maker that plotted all day sleeps,", "And the enraged and treacherous dispositions—all, all sleep.", "", "2", "I stand in the dark with drooping eyes by the worst-suffering and the most restless,", "I pass my hands soothingly to and fro a few inches from them,", "The restless sink in their beds—they fitfully sleep.", "", "Now I pierce the darkness—new beings appear,", "The earth recedes from me into the night,", "I saw that it was beautiful, and I see that what is not the earth is beautiful.", "", "I go from bedside to bedside—I sleep close with the other sleepers, each in turn,", "I dream in my dream all the dreams of the other dreamers,", "And I become the other dreamers.", "", "3", "I am a dance—Play up, there! the fit is whirling me fast!", "", "I am the ever-laughing—it is new moon and twilight,", "I see the hiding of douceurs—I see nimble ghosts whichever way I look,", "Cache, and cache again, deep in the ground and sea, and where it is neither ground or sea.", "", "Well do they do their jobs, those journeymen divine,", "Only from me can they hide nothing, and would not if they could,", "I reckon I am their boss, and they make me a pet besides,", "And surround me and lead me, and run ahead when I walk,", "To lift their cunning covers, to signify me with stretch’d arms, and resume the way;", "Onward we move! a gay gang of blackguards! with mirth-shouting music, and wild-flapping", " pennants of", " joy!", "", "4", "I am the actor, the actress, the voter, the politician;", "The emigrant and the exile, the criminal that stood in the box,", "He who has been famous, and he who shall be famous after to-day,", "The stammerer, the well-form’d person, the wasted or feeble person.", "", "5", "I am she who adorn’d herself and folded her hair expectantly,", "My truant lover has come, and it is dark.", "", "Double yourself and receive me, darkness!", "Receive me and my lover too—he will not let me go without him.", "", "I roll myself upon you, as upon a bed—I resign myself to the dusk.", "", "6", "He whom I call answers me, and takes the place of my lover,", "He rises with me silently from the bed.", "", "Darkness! you are gentler than my lover—his flesh was sweaty and panting,", "I feel the hot moisture yet that he left me.", "", "My hands are spread forth, I pass them in all directions,", "I would sound up the shadowy shore to which you are journeying.", "", "Be careful, darkness! already, what was it touch’d me?", "I thought my lover had gone, else darkness and he are one,", "I hear the heart-beat—I follow, I fade away.", "", "7", "O hot-cheek’d and blushing! O foolish hectic!", "O for pity’s sake, no one must see me now! my clothes were stolen while I was abed,", "Now I am thrust forth, where shall I run?", "", "Pier that I saw dimly last night, when I look’d from the windows!", "Pier out from the main, let me catch myself with you, and stay—I will not chafe you,", "I feel ashamed to go naked about the world.", "", "I am curious to know where my feet stand—and what this is flooding me, childhood or", " manhood—and the hunger that crosses the bridge between.", "", "8", "The cloth laps a first sweet eating and drinking,", "Laps life-swelling yolks—laps ear of rose-corn, milky and just ripen’d;", "The white teeth stay, and the boss-tooth advances in darkness,", "And liquor is spill’d on lips and bosoms by touching glasses, and the best liquor", " afterward.", "", "9", "I descend my western course, my sinews are flaccid,", "Perfume and youth course through me, and I am their wake.", "", "It is my face yellow and wrinkled, instead of the old woman’s,", "I sit low in a straw-bottom chair, and carefully darn my grandson’s stockings.", "", "It is I too, the sleepless widow, looking out on the winter midnight,", "I see the sparkles of starshine on the icy and pallid earth.", "", "A shroud I see, and I am the shroud—I wrap a body, and lie in the coffin,", "It is dark here under ground—it is not evil or pain here—it is blank here, for", " reasons.", "", "It seems to me that everything in the light and air ought to be happy,", "Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let him know he has enough.", "", "10", "I see a beautiful gigantic swimmer, swimming naked through the eddies of the sea,", "His brown hair lies close and even to his head—he strikes out with courageous", " arms—he", " urges himself with his legs,", "I see his white body—I see his undaunted eyes,", "I hate the swift-running eddies that would dash him head-foremost on the rocks.", "", "What are you doing, you ruffianly red-trickled waves?", "Will you kill the courageous giant? Will you kill him in the prime of his middle age?", "", "Steady and long he struggles,", "He is baffled, bang’d, bruis’d—he holds out while his strength holds out,", "The slapping eddies are spotted with his blood—they bear him away—they roll him,", " swing", " him, turn him,", "His beautiful body is borne in the circling eddies, it is continually bruis’d on", " rocks,", "Swiftly and out of sight is borne the brave corpse.", "", "11", "I turn, but do not extricate myself,", "Confused, a past-reading, another, but with darkness yet.", "", "The beach is cut by the razory ice-wind—the wreck-guns sound,", "The tempest lulls—the moon comes floundering through the drifts.", "", "I look where the ship helplessly heads end on—I hear the burst as she strikes—I", " hear", " the", " howls of dismay—they grow fainter and fainter.", "", "I cannot aid with my wringing fingers,", "I can but rush to the surf, and let it drench me and freeze upon me.", "", "I search with the crowd—not one of the company is wash’d to us alive;", "In the morning I help pick up the dead and lay them in rows in a barn.", "", "12", "Now of the older war-days, the defeat at Brooklyn,", "Washington stands inside the lines—he stands on the intrench’d hills, amid a", " crowd of", " officers,", "His face is cold and damp—he cannot repress the weeping drops,", "He lifts the glass perpetually to his eyes—the color is blanch’d from his", " cheeks,", "He sees the slaughter of the southern braves confided to him by their parents.", "", "The same, at last and at last, when peace is declared,", "He stands in the room of the old tavern—the well-belov’d soldiers all pass", " through,", "The officers speechless and slow draw near in their turns,", "The chief encircles their necks with his arm, and kisses them on the cheek,", "He kisses lightly the wet cheeks one after another—he shakes hands, and bids good-by", " to", " the", " army.", "", "13", "Now I tell what my mother told me to-day as we sat at dinner together,", "Of when she was a nearly grown girl, living home with her parents on the old homestead.", "", "A red squaw came one breakfast time to the old homestead,", "On her back she carried a bundle of rushes for rush-bottoming chairs,", "Her hair, straight, shiny, coarse, black, profuse, half-envelop’d her face,", "Her step was free and elastic, and her voice sounded exquisitely as she spoke.", "", "My mother look’d in delight and amazement at the stranger,", "She look’d at the freshness of her tall-borne face, and full and pliant limbs,", "The more she look’d upon her, she loved her,", "Never before had she seen such wonderful beauty and purity,", "She made her sit on a bench by the jamb of the fireplace—she cook’d food for", " her,", "She had no work to give her, but she gave her remembrance and fondness.", "", "The red squaw staid all the forenoon, and toward the middle of the afternoon she went", " away,", "O my mother was loth to have her go away!", "All the week she thought of her—she watch’d for her many a month,", "She remember’d her many a winter and many a summer,", "But the red squaw never came, nor was heard of there again.", "", "14", "Now Lucifer was not dead—or if he was, I am his sorrowful terrible heir;", "I have been wrong’d—I am oppress’d—I hate him that oppresses me,", "I will either destroy him, or he shall release me.", "", "Damn him! how he does defile me!", "How he informs against my brother and sister, and takes pay for their blood!", "How he laughs when I look down the bend, after the steamboat that carries away my woman!", "", "Now the vast dusk bulk that is the whale’s bulk, it seems mine;", "Warily, sportsman! though I lie so sleepy and sluggish, the tap of my flukes is death.", "", "15", "A show of the summer softness! a contact of something unseen! an amour of the light and", " air!", "I am jealous, and overwhelm’d with friendliness,", "And will go gallivant with the light and air myself,", "And have an unseen something to be in contact with them also.", "", "O love and summer! you are in the dreams, and in me!", "Autumn and winter are in the dreams—the farmer goes with his thrift,", "The droves and crops increase, and the barns are well-fill’d.", "", "16", "Elements merge in the night—ships make tacks in the dreams,", "The sailor sails—the exile returns home,", "The fugitive returns unharm’d—the immigrant is back beyond months and years,", "The poor Irishman lives in the simple house of his childhood, with the well-known", " neighbors and", " faces,", "They warmly welcome him—he is barefoot again, he forgets he is well off;", "The Dutchman voyages home, and the Scotchman and Welshman voyage home, and the native of", " the", " Mediterranean voyages home,", "To every port of England, France, Spain, enter well-fill’d ships,", "The Swiss foots it toward his hills—the Prussian goes his way, the Hungarian his way,", " and", " the", " Pole his way,", "The Swede returns, and the Dane and Norwegian return.", "", "17", "The homeward bound, and the outward bound,", "The beautiful lost swimmer, the ennuyé, the onanist, the female that loves", " unrequited,", " the", " money-maker,", "The actor and actress, those through with their parts, and those waiting to commence,", "The affectionate boy, the husband and wife, the voter, the nominee that is chosen, and the", " nominee", " that has fail’d,", "The great already known, and the great any time after to-day,", "The stammerer, the sick, the perfect-form’d, the homely,", "The criminal that stood in the box, the judge that sat and sentenced him, the fluent", " lawyers,", " the", " jury, the audience,", "The laugher and weeper, the dancer, the midnight widow, the red squaw,", "The consumptive, the erysipelite, the idiot, he that is wrong’d,", "The antipodes, and every one between this and them in the dark,", "I swear they are averaged now—one is no better than the other,", "The night and sleep have liken’d them and restored them.", "", "I swear they are all beautiful;", "Every one that sleeps is beautiful—everything in the dim light is beautiful,", "The wildest and bloodiest is over, and all is peace.", "", "18", "Peace is always beautiful,", "The myth of heaven indicates peace and night.", "", "The myth of heaven indicates the Soul;", "The Soul is always beautiful—it appears more or it appears less—it comes, or it", " lags", " behind,", "It comes from its embower’d garden, and looks pleasantly on itself, and encloses the", " world,", "Perfect and clean the genitals previously jetting, and perfect and clean the womb", " cohering,", "The head well-grown, proportion’d and plumb, and the bowels and joints", " proportion’d", " and", " plumb.", "", "19", "The Soul is always beautiful,", "The universe is duly in order, everything is in its place,", "What has arrived is in its place, and what waits is in its place;", "The twisted skull waits, the watery or rotten blood waits,", "The child of the glutton or venerealee waits long, and the child of the drunkard waits", " long,", " and the", " drunkard himself waits long,", "The sleepers that lived and died wait—the far advanced are to go on in their turns,", " and", " the far", " behind are to come on in their turns,", "The diverse shall be no less diverse, but they shall flow and unite—they unite now.", "", "20", "The sleepers are very beautiful as they lie unclothed,", "They flow hand in hand over the whole earth, from east to west, as they lie unclothed,", "The Asiatic and African are hand in hand—the European and American are hand in hand,", "Learn’d and unlearn’d are hand in hand, and male and female are hand in hand,", "The bare arm of the girl crosses the bare breast of her lover—they press close", " without", " lust—his lips press her neck,", "The father holds his grown or ungrown son in his arms with measureless love, and the son", " holds", " the", " father in his arms with measureless love,", "The white hair of the mother shines on the white wrist of the daughter,", "The breath of the boy goes with the breath of the man, friend is inarm’d by friend,", "The scholar kisses the teacher, and the teacher kisses the scholar—the wrong’d", " is", " made", " right,", "The call of the slave is one with the master’s call, and the master salutes the", " slave,", "The felon steps forth from the prison—the insane becomes sane—the suffering of", " sick", " persons is reliev’d,", "The sweatings and fevers stop—the throat that was unsound is sound—the lungs of", " the", " consumptive are resumed—the poor distress’d head is free,", "The joints of the rheumatic move as smoothly as ever, and smoother than ever,", "Stiflings and passages open—the paralyzed become supple,", "The swell’d and convuls’d and congested awake to themselves in condition,", "They pass the invigoration of the night, and the chemistry of the night, and awake.", "", "21", "I too pass from the night,", "I stay a while away, O night, but I return to you again, and love you.", "", "Why should I be afraid to trust myself to you?", "I am not afraid—I have been well brought forward by you;", "I love the rich running day, but I do not desert her in whom I lay so long,", "I know not how I came of you, and I know not where I go with you—but I know I came", " well,", " and", " shall go well.", "", "I will stop only a time with the night, and rise betimes;", "I will duly pass the day, O my mother, and duly return to you." ], "linecount": "298" }, { "title": "Song of the Broad-Axe", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "WEAPON, shapely, naked, wan!", "Head from the mother’s bowels drawn!", "Wooded flesh and metal bone! limb only one, and lip only one!", "Gray-blue leaf by red-heat grown! helve produced from a little seed sown!", "Resting the grass amid and upon,", "To be lean’d, and to lean on.", "", "Strong shapes, and attributes of strong shapes—masculine trades, sights and sounds;", "Long varied train of an emblem, dabs of music;", "Fingers of the organist skipping staccato over the keys of the great organ.", "", "2", "Welcome are all earth’s lands, each for its kind;", "Welcome are lands of pine and oak;", "Welcome are lands of the lemon and fig;", "Welcome are lands of gold;", "Welcome are lands of wheat and maize—welcome those of the grape;", "Welcome are lands of sugar and rice;", "Welcome the cotton-lands—welcome those of the white potato and sweet potato;", "Welcome are mountains, flats, sands, forests, prairies;", "Welcome the rich borders of rivers, table-lands, openings;", "Welcome the measureless grazing-lands—welcome the teeming soil of orchards, flax, honey,", " hemp;", "", "Welcome just as much the other more hard-faced lands;", "Lands rich as lands of gold, or wheat and fruit lands;", "Lands of mines, lands of the manly and rugged ores;", "Lands of coal, copper, lead, tin, zinc;", "LANDS OF IRON! lands of the make of the axe!", "", "3", "The log at the wood-pile, the axe supported by it;", "The sylvan hut, the vine over the doorway, the space clear’d for a garden,", "The irregular tapping of rain down on the leaves, after the storm is lull’d,", "The wailing and moaning at intervals, the thought of the sea,", "The thought of ships struck in the storm, and put on their beam ends, and the cutting away", " of", " masts;", "", "The sentiment of the huge timbers of old-fashion’d houses and barns;", "The remember’d print or narrative, the voyage at a venture of men, families, goods,", "The disembarkation, the founding of a new city,", "The voyage of those who sought a New England and found it—the outset anywhere,", "The settlements of the Arkansas, Colorado, Ottawa, Willamette,", "The slow progress, the scant fare, the axe, rifle, saddle-bags;", "The beauty of all adventurous and daring persons,", "The beauty of wood-boys and wood-men, with their clear untrimm’d faces,", "The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves,", "The American contempt for statutes and ceremonies, the boundless impatience of restraint,", "", "The loose drift of character, the inkling through random types, the solidification;", "The butcher in the slaughter-house, the hands aboard schooners and sloops, the raftsman,", " the", " pioneer,", "Lumbermen in their winter camp, day-break in the woods, stripes of snow on the limbs of", " trees,", " the", " occasional snapping,", "The glad clear sound of one’s own voice, the merry song, the natural life of the woods,", " the", " strong", " day’s work,", "The blazing fire at night, the sweet taste of supper, the talk, the bed of hemlock boughs,", " and", " the", " bear-skin;", "—The house-builder at work in cities or anywhere,", "The preparatory jointing, squaring, sawing, mortising,", "The hoist-up of beams, the push of them in their places, laying them regular,", "Setting the studs by their tenons in the mortises, according as they were prepared,", "The blows of mallets and hammers, the attitudes of the men, their curv’d limbs,", "Bending, standing, astride the beams, driving in pins, holding on by posts and braces,", "The hook’d arm over the plate, the other arm wielding the axe,", "The floor-men forcing the planks close, to be nail’d,", "Their postures bringing their weapons downward on the bearers,", "The echoes resounding through the vacant building;", "The huge store-house carried up in the city, well under way,", "The six framing-men, two in the middle, and two at each end, carefully bearing on their", " shoulders a", " heavy stick for a cross-beam,", "The crowded line of masons with trowels in their right hands, rapidly laying the long", " side-wall, two", " hundred feet from front to rear,", "The flexible rise and fall of backs, the continual click of the trowels striking the", " bricks,", "The bricks, one after another, each laid so workmanlike in its place, and set with a knock", " of", " the", " trowel-handle,", "The piles of materials, the mortar on the mortar-boards, and the steady replenishing by", " the", " hod-men;", "—Spar-makers in the spar-yard, the swarming row of well-grown apprentices,", "The swing of their axes on the square-hew’d log, shaping it toward the shape of a mast,", "The brisk short crackle of the steel driven slantingly into the pine,", "The butter-color’d chips flying off in great flakes and slivers,", "The limber motion of brawny young arms and hips in easy costumes;", "The constructor of wharves, bridges, piers, bulk-heads, floats, stays against the sea;", "—The city fireman—the fire that suddenly bursts forth in the close-pack’d square,", "The arriving engines, the hoarse shouts, the nimble stepping and daring,", "The strong command through the fire-trumpets, the falling in line, the rise and fall of", " the", " arms", " forcing the water,", "The slender, spasmic, blue-white jets—the bringing to bear of the hooks and ladders, and", " their", " execution,", "The crash and cut away of connecting wood-work, or through floors, if the fire smoulders", " under", " them,", "", "The crowd with their lit faces, watching—the glare and dense shadows;", "—The forger at his forge-furnace, and the user of iron after him,", "The maker of the axe large and small, and the welder and temperer,", "The chooser breathing his breath on the cold steel, and trying the edge with his thumb,", "The one who clean-shapes the handle, and sets it firmly in the socket;", "The shadowy processions of the portraits of the past users also,", "The primal patient mechanics, the architects and engineers,", "The far-off Assyrian edifice and Mizra edifice,", "The Roman lictors preceding the consuls,", "The antique European warrior with his axe in combat,", "The uplifted arm, the clatter of blows on the helmeted head,", "The death-howl, the limpsey tumbling body, the rush of friend and foe thither,", "The siege of revolted lieges determin’d for liberty,", "The summons to surrender, the battering at castle gates, the truce and parley;", "The sack of an old city in its time,", "The bursting in of mercenaries and bigots tumultuously and disorderly,", "Roar, flames, blood, drunkenness, madness,", "Goods freely rifled from houses and temples, screams of women in the gripe of brigands,", "Craft and thievery of camp-followers, men running, old persons despairing,", "The hell of war, the cruelties of creeds,", "The list of all executive deeds and words, just or unjust,", "The power of personality, just or unjust.", "", "4", "Muscle and pluck forever!", "What invigorates life, invigorates death,", "And the dead advance as much as the living advance,", "And the future is no more uncertain than the present,", "And the roughness of the earth and of man encloses as much as the delicatesse of the earth", " and", " of", " man,", "And nothing endures but personal qualities.", "What do you think endures?", "Do you think the great city endures?", "Or a teeming manufacturing state? or a prepared constitution? or the best-built", " steamships?", "Or hotels of granite and iron? or any chef-d’oeuvres of engineering, forts, armaments?", "", "Away! These are not to be cherish’d for themselves;", "They fill their hour, the dancers dance, the musicians play for them;", "The show passes, all does well enough of course,", "All does very well till one flash of defiance.", "", "The great city is that which has the greatest man or woman;", "If it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world.", "", "5", "The place where the great city stands is not the place of stretch’d wharves, docks,", " manufactures,", " deposits of produce,", "Nor the place of ceaseless salutes of new comers, or the anchor-lifters of the departing,", "", "Nor the place of the tallest and costliest buildings, or shops selling goods from the rest", " of", " the", " earth,", "Nor the place of the best libraries and schools—nor the place where money is plentiest,", "Nor the place of the most numerous population.", "", "Where the city stands with the brawniest breed of orators and bards;", "Where the city stands that is beloved by these, and loves them in return, and understands", " them;", "", "Where no monuments exist to heroes, but in the common words and deeds;", "Where thrift is in its place, and prudence is in its place;", "Where the men and women think lightly of the laws;", "Where the slave ceases, and the master of slaves ceases;", "Where the populace rise at once against the never-ending audacity of elected persons;", "Where fierce men and women pour forth, as the sea to the whistle of death pours its", " sweeping", " and", " unript waves;", "Where outside authority enters always after the precedence of inside authority;", "Where the citizen is always the head and ideal—and President, Mayor, Governor, and what", " not,", " are", " agents for pay;", "Where children are taught to be laws to themselves, and to depend on themselves;", "Where equanimity is illustrated in affairs;", "Where speculations on the Soul are encouraged;", "Where women walk in public processions in the streets, the same as the men,", "Where they enter the public assembly and take places the same as the men;", "Where the city of the faithfulest friends stands;", "Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands;", "Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands;", "Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands,", "There the great city stands.", "", "6", "How beggarly appear arguments before a defiant deed!", "How the floridness of the materials of cities shrivels before a man’s or woman’s look!", "", "All waits, or goes by default, till a strong being appears;", "A strong being is the proof of the race, and of the ability of the universe;", "When he or she appears, materials are overaw’d,", "The dispute on the Soul stops,", "The old customs and phrases are confronted, turn’d back, or laid away.", "", "What is your money-making now? what can it do now?", "What is your respectability now?", "What are your theology, tuition, society, traditions, statute-books, now?", "Where are your jibes of being now?", "Where are your cavils about the Soul now?", "", "7", "A sterile landscape covers the ore—there is as good as the best, for all the forbidding", " appearance;", "There is the mine, there are the miners;", "The forge-furnace is there, the melt is accomplish’d; the hammers-men are at hand with", " their", " tongs", " and hammers;", "What always served, and always serves, is at hand.", "", "Than this, nothing has better served—it has served all:", "Served the fluent-tongued and subtle-sensed Greek, and long ere the Greek:", "Served in building the buildings that last longer than any;", "Served the Hebrew, the Persian, the most ancient Hindostanee;", "Served the mound-raiser on the Mississippi—served those whose relics remain in Central", " America;", "Served Albic temples in woods or on plains, with unhewn pillars, and the druids;", "Served the artificial clefts, vast, high, silent, on the snow-cover’d hills of", " Scandinavia;", "Served those who, time out of mind, made on the granite walls rough sketches of the sun,", " moon,", " stars, ships, ocean-waves;", "Served the paths of the irruptions of the Goths—served the pastoral tribes and nomads;", "Served the long, long distant Kelt—served the hardy pirates of the Baltic;", "Served before any of those, the venerable and harmless men of Ethiopia;", "Served the making of helms for the galleys of pleasure, and the making of those for war;", "Served all great works on land, and all great works on the sea;", "For the mediæval ages, and before the mediæval ages;", "Served not the living only, then as now, but served the dead.", "", "8", "I see the European headsman;", "He stands mask’d, clothed in red, with huge legs, and strong naked arms,", "And leans on a ponderous axe.", "", "(Whom have you slaughter’d lately, European headsman?", "Whose is that blood upon you, so wet and sticky?)", "", "I see the clear sunsets of the martyrs;", "I see from the scaffolds the descending ghosts,", "Ghosts of dead lords, uncrown’d ladies, impeach’d ministers, rejected kings,", "Rivals, traitors, poisoners, disgraced chieftains, and the rest.", "", "I see those who in any land have died for the good cause;", "The seed is spare, nevertheless the crop shall never run out;", "(Mind you, O foreign kings, O priests, the crop shall never run out.)", "", "I see the blood wash’d entirely away from the axe;", "Both blade and helve are clean;", "They spirt no more the blood of European nobles—they clasp no more the necks of queens.", "", "I see the headsman withdraw and become useless;", "I see the scaffold untrodden and mouldy—I see no longer any axe upon it;", "I see the mighty and friendly emblem of the power of my own race—the newest, largest race.", "", "", "9", "(America! I do not vaunt my love for you;", "I have what I have.)", "", "The axe leaps!", "The solid forest gives fluid utterances;", "They tumble forth, they rise and form,", "Hut, tent, landing, survey,", "Flail, plough, pick, crowbar, spade,", "Shingle, rail, prop, wainscot, jamb, lath, panel, gable,", "Citadel, ceiling, saloon, academy, organ, exhibition-house, library,", "Cornice, trellis, pilaster, balcony, window, shutter, turret, porch,", "Hoe, rake, pitch-fork, pencil, wagon, staff, saw, jack-plane, mallet, wedge, rounce,", "Chair, tub, hoop, table, wicket, vane, sash, floor,", "Work-box, chest, string’d instrument, boat, frame, and what not,", "Capitols of States, and capitol of the nation of States,", "Long stately rows in avenues, hospitals for orphans, or for the poor or sick,", "Manhattan steamboats and clippers, taking the measure of all seas.", "", "The shapes arise!", "Shapes of the using of axes anyhow, and the users, and all that neighbors them,", "Cutters down of wood, and haulers of it to the Penobscot or Kennebec,", "Dwellers in cabins among the California mountains, or by the little lakes, or on the", " Columbia,", "", "Dwellers south on the banks of the Gila or Rio Grande—friendly gatherings, the characters", " and", " fun,", "", "Dwellers up north in Minnesota and by the Yellowstone river—dwellers on coasts and off", " coasts,", "Seal-fishers, whalers, arctic seamen breaking passages through the ice.", "", "The shapes arise!", "Shapes of factories, arsenals, foundries, markets;", "Shapes of the two-threaded tracks of railroads;", "Shapes of the sleepers of bridges, vast frameworks, girders, arches;", "Shapes of the fleets of barges, towns, lake and canal craft, river craft.", "", "The shapes arise!", "Ship-yards and dry-docks along the Eastern and Western Seas, and in many a bay and", " by-place,", "The live-oak kelsons, the pine planks, the spars, the hackmatack-roots for knees,", "The ships themselves on their ways, the tiers of scaffolds, the workmen busy outside and", " inside,", "The tools lying around, the great auger and little auger, the adze, bolt, line, square,", " gouge,", " and", " bead-plane.", "", "10", "The shapes arise!", "The shape measur’d, saw’d, jack’d, join’d, stain’d,", "The coffin-shape for the dead to lie within in his shroud;", "The shape got out in posts, in the bedstead posts, in the posts of the bride’s bed;", "The shape of the little trough, the shape of the rockers beneath, the shape of the babe’s", " cradle;", "", "The shape of the floor-planks, the floor-planks for dancers’ feet;", "The shape of the planks of the family home, the home of the friendly parents and children,", "", "The shape of the roof of the home of the happy young man and woman—the roof over the", " well-married", " young man and woman,", "The roof over the supper joyously cook’d by the chaste wife, and joyously eaten by the", " chaste", " husband, content after his day’s work.", "", "The shapes arise!", "The shape of the prisoner’s place in the court-room, and of him or her seated in the", " place;", "The shape of the liquor-bar lean’d against by the young rum-drinker and the old", " rum-drinker;", "The shape of the shamed and angry stairs, trod by sneaking footsteps;", "The shape of the sly settee, and the adulterous unwholesome couple;", "The shape of the gambling-board with its devilish winnings and losings;", "The shape of the step-ladder for the convicted and sentenced murderer, the murderer with", " haggard", " face and pinion’d arms,", "The sheriff at hand with his deputies, the silent and white-lipp’d crowd, the dangling of", " the", " rope.", "", "The shapes arise!", "Shapes of doors giving many exits and entrances;", "The door passing the dissever’d friend, flush’d and in haste;", "The door that admits good news and bad news;", "The door whence the son left home, confident and puff’d up;", "The door he enter’d again from a long and scandalous absence, diseas’d, broken down,", " without", " innocence, without means.", "", "11", "Her shape arises,", "She, less guarded than ever, yet more guarded than ever;", "The gross and soil’d she moves among do not make her gross and soil’d;", "She knows the thoughts as she passes—nothing is conceal’d from her;", "She is none the less considerate or friendly therefor;", "She is the best belov’d—it is without exception—she has no reason to fear, and she does", " not", " fear;", "Oaths, quarrels, hiccupp’d songs, smutty expressions, are idle to her as she passes;", "She is silent—she is possess’d of herself—they do not offend her;", "She receives them as the laws of nature receive them—she is strong,", "She too is a law of nature—there is no law stronger than she is.", "", "12", "The main shapes arise!", "Shapes of Democracy, total—result of centuries;", "Shapes, ever projecting other shapes;", "Shapes of turbulent manly cities;", "Shapes of the friends and home-givers of the whole earth,", "Shapes bracing the earth, and braced with the whole earth." ], "linecount": "346" }, { "title": "When I heard at the Close of the Day", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "WHEN I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d with plaudits in the", " capitol,", " still it was not a happy night for me that follow’d;", "And else, when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still I was not happy;", "But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health, refresh’d, singing,", " inhaling", " the", " ripe breath of autumn,", "When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light,", "When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed, laughing with the cool", " waters,", " and", " saw the sun rise,", "And when I thought how my dear friend, my lover, was on his way coming, O then I was", " happy;", "O then each breath tasted sweeter—and all that day my food nourish’d me more—and the", " beautiful", " day pass’d well,", "And the next came with equal joy—and with the next, at evening, came my friend;", "And that night, while all was still, I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the", " shores,", "", "I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to me, whispering, to", " congratulate", " me,", "For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool night,", "In the stillness, in the autumn moonbeams, his face was inclined toward me,", "And his arm lay lightly around my breast—and that night I was happy." ], "linecount": "27" }, { "title": "Song: Farewell to the Banks of Ayr", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE GLOOMY night is gath’ring fast,", "Loud roars the wild, inconstant blast,", "Yon murky cloud is foul with rain,", "I see it driving o’er the plain;", "The hunter now has left the moor.", "The scatt’red coveys meet secure;", "While here I wander, prest with care,", "Along the lonely banks of Ayr.", "", "", "The Autumn mourns her rip’ning corn", "By early Winter’s ravage torn;", "Across her placid, azure sky,", "She sees the scowling tempest fly:", "Chill runs my blood to hear it rave;", "I think upon the stormy wave,", "Where many a danger I must dare,", "Far from the bonie banks of Ayr.", "", "", "’Tis not the surging billow’s roar,", "’Tis not that fatal, deadly shore;", "Tho’ death in ev’ry shape appear,", "The wretched have no more to fear:", "But round my heart the ties are bound,", "That heart transpierc’d with many a wound;", "These bleed afresh, those ties I tear,", "To leave the bonie banks of Ayr.", "", "", "Farewell, old Coila’s hills and dales,", "Her healthy moors and winding vales;", "The scenes where wretched Fancy roves,", "Pursuing past, unhappy loves!", "Farewell, my friends! farewell, my foes!", "My peace with these, my love with those:", "The bursting tears my heart declare—", "Farewell, the bonie banks of Ayr!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Song: Farewell to Eliza", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FROM thee, Eliza, I must go,", " And from my native shore;", "The cruel fates between us throw", " A boundless ocean’s roar:", "But boundless oceans, roaring wide,", " Between my love and me,", "They never, never can divide", " My heart and soul from thee.", "", "", "Farewell, farewell, Eliza dear,", " The maid that I adore!", "A boding voice is in mine ear,", " We part to meet no more!", "But the latest throb that leaves my heart,", " While Death stands victor by,—", "That throb, Eliza, is thy part,", " And thine that latest sigh!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Sonnet XVI: In Nature Apt", "author": "Sir Philip Sidney", "lines": [ "In nature apt to like when I did see", "Beauties, which were of many carats fine,", "My boiling sprites did thither soon incline,", "And, Love, I thought that I was full of thee:", "", "But finding not those restless flames in me,", "Which others said did make their souls to pine,", "I thought those babes of some pin's hurt did whine,", "By my love judging what love's pain might be.", "", "But while I thus with this young lion played,", "Mine eyes (shall I say curst or blest?) beheld", "Stella; now she is nam'd, need more be said?", "", "In her sight I a lesson new have spell'd,", "I now hav learn'd Love right, and learn'd even so,", "As who by being poisoned doth poison know." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Farewell to the Court", "author": "Sir Walter Raleigh", "lines": [ "Like truthless dreams, so are my joys expir'd,", "And past return are all my dandled days;", "My love misled, and fancy quite retir'd--", "Of all which pass'd the sorrow only stays.", "", "My lost delights, now clean from sight of land,", "Have left me all alone in unknown ways;", "My mind to woe, my life in fortune's hand--", "Of all which pass'd the sorrow only stays.", "", "As in a country strange, without companion,", "I only wail the wrong of death's delays,", "Whose sweet spring spent, whose summer well-nigh done--", "Of all which pass'd only the sorrow stays.", "", "Whom care forewarns, ere age and winter cold,", "To haste me hence to find my fortune's fold." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "What the Bee Is to the Floweret", "author": "Thomas Moore", "lines": [ "What the bee is to the floweret,", "When he looks for honey-dew,", "Through the leaves that close embower it,", "That, my love, I'll be to you.", "", "She. --", "", "What the bank, with verdure glowing,", "Is to waves that wander near,", "Whispering kisses, while they're going,", "That I'll be to you, my dear.", "", "She. --", "", "But they say, the bee's a rover,", "Who will fly, when sweets are gone,", "And, when once the kiss is over,", "Faithless brooks will wander on.", "", "He. --", "", "Nay, if flowers will lose their looks", "If sunny banks will wear away,", "'Tis but right that bees and brooks", "Should sip and kiss them, while they may." ], "linecount": "19" }, { "title": "Out of the Rolling Ocean, the Crowd", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "OUT of the rolling ocean, the crowd, came a drop gently to me,", "Whispering, I love you, before long I die,", "I have travel’d a long way, merely to look on you, to touch you,", "For I could not die till I once look’d on you,", "For I fear’d I might afterward lose you.", "", "2", "(Now we have met, we have look’d, we are safe;", "Return in peace to the ocean, my love;", "I too am part of that ocean, my love—we are not so much separated;", "Behold the great rondure—the cohesion of all, how perfect!", "But as for me, for you, the irresistible sea is to separate us,", "As for an hour, carrying us diverse—yet cannot carry us diverse for ever;", "Be not impatient—a little space—Know you, I salute the air, the ocean and the", " land,", "Every day, at sundown, for your dear sake, my love.)" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "France, the 18th year of These States", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "A GREAT year and place;", "A harsh, discordant, natal scream out-sounding, to touch the mother’s heart closer", " than", " any yet.", "", "I walk’d the shores of my Eastern Sea,", "Heard over the waves the little voice,", "Saw the divine infant, where she woke, mournfully wailing, amid the roar of cannon,", " curses,", " shouts, crash of falling buildings;", "Was not so sick from the blood in the gutters running—nor from the single corpses,", " nor", " those in heaps, nor those borne away in the tumbrils;", "Was not so desperate at the battues of death—was not so shock’d at the repeated", " fusillades of the guns.", "", "2", "Pale, silent, stern, what could I say to that long-accrued retribution?", "Could I wish humanity different?", "Could I wish the people made of wood and stone?", "Or that there be no justice in destiny or time?", "", "3", "O Liberty! O mate for me!", "Here too the blaze, the grape-shot and the axe, in reserve, to fetch them out in case of", " need;", "Here too, though long represt, can never be destroy’d;", "Here too could rise at last, murdering and extatic;", "Here too demanding full arrears of vengeance.", "", "4", "Hence I sign this salute over the sea,", "And I do not deny that terrible red birth and baptism,", "But remember the little voice that I heard wailing—and wait with perfect trust, no", " matter", " how long;", "And from to-day, sad and cogent, I maintain the bequeath’d cause, as for all lands,", "And I send these words to Paris with my love,", "And I guess some chansonniers there will understand them,", "For I guess there is latent music yet in France—floods of it;", "O I hear already the bustle of instruments—they will soon be drowning all that would", " interrupt them;", "O I think the east wind brings a triumphal and free march,", "It reaches hither—it swells me to joyful madness,", "I will run transpose it in words, to justify it,", "I will yet sing a song for you, MA FEMME." ], "linecount": "43" }, { "title": "The Wife a-Lost", "author": "William Barnes", "lines": [ "Since I noo mwore do zee your feace,", "Up steairs or down below,", "I’ll zit me in the lwonesome pleace,", "Where flat-bough’d beech do grow;", "Below the beeches’ bough, my love,", "Where you did never come,", "An’ I don’t look to meet ye now,", "As I do look at hwome.", "", "Since you noo mwore be at my zide,", "In walks in zummer het,", "I’ll goo alwone where mist do ride,", "Drough trees a-drippen wet;", "Below the rain-wet bough, my love,", "Where you did never come,", "An’ I don’t grieve to miss ye now,", "As I do grieve at hwome.", "", "Since now bezide my dinner-bwoard", "Your vaice do never sound,", "I’ll eat the bit I can avword,", "A-vield upon the ground;", "Below the darksome bough, my love,", "Where you did never dine,", "An’ I don’t grieve to miss ye now,", "As I at hwome do pine.", "", "Since I do miss your vaice an’ feace", "In prayer at eventide,", "I’ll pray wi’ woone sad vaice vor greace", "To goo where you do bide;", "Above the tree an’ bough, my love,", "Where you be gone avore,", "An’ be a-waiten vor me now,", "To come vor evermwore." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "A Woman Waits for Me", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "A WOMAN waits for me—she contains all, nothing is lacking,", "Yet all were lacking, if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were", " lacking.", "", "Sex contains all,", "Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations,", "Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk;", "All hopes, benefactions, bestowals,", "All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth,", "All the governments, judges, gods, follow’d persons of the earth,", "These are contain’d in sex, as parts of itself, and justifications of itself.", "", "Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of his sex,", "Without shame the woman I like knows and avows hers.", "", "Now I will dismiss myself from impassive women,", "I will go stay with her who waits for me, and with those women that are warm-blooded and", " sufficient for me;", "I see that they understand me, and do not deny me;", "I see that they are worthy of me—I will be the robust husband of those women.", "", "They are not one jot less than I am,", "They are tann’d in the face by shining suns and blowing winds,", "Their flesh has the old divine suppleness and strength,", "They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle, shoot, run, strike, retreat, advance, resist,", " defend themselves,", "They are ultimate in their own right—they are calm, clear, well-possess’d of", " themselves.", "", "I draw you close to me, you women!", "I cannot let you go, I would do you good,", "I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake, but for others’ sakes;", "Envelop’d in you sleep greater heroes and bards,", "They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.", "", "It is I, you women—I make my way,", "I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable—but I love you,", "I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,", "I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for These States—I press with slow", " rude muscle,", "I brace myself effectually—I listen to no entreaties,", "I dare not withdraw till I deposit what has so long accumulated within me.", "", "Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself,", "In you I wrap a thousand onward years,", "On you I graft the grafts of the best-beloved of me and America,", "The drops I distil upon you shall grow fierce and athletic girls, new artists, musicians,", " and singers,", "The babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn,", "I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-spendings,", "I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and you interpenetrate now,", "I shall count on the fruits of the gushing showers of them, as I count on the fruits of", " the gushing showers I give now,", "I shall look for loving crops from the birth, life, death, immortality, I plant so", " lovingly now." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "To the Rose. A Song.", "author": "Robert Herrick", "lines": [ "Go, happy Rose, and interwove", "With other flowers, bind my Love.", "Tell her, too, she must not be", "Longer flowing, longer free,", "That so oft has fetter'd me.", "", "Say, if she's fretful, I have bands", "Of pearl and gold, to bind her hands;", "Tell her, if she struggle still,", "I have myrtle rods at will,", "For to tame, though not to kill.", "", "Take thou my blessing thus, and go", "And tell her this,--but do not so!--", "Lest a handsome anger fly", "Like a lightning from her eye,", "And burn thee up, as well as I!" ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "Song of the Open Road", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "1", "AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,", "Healthy, free, the world before me,", "The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.", "", "Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;", "Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,", "Strong and content, I travel the open road.", "", "The earth—that is sufficient;", "I do not want the constellations any nearer;", "I know they are very well where they are;", "I know they suffice for those who belong to them.", "", "(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;", "I carry them, men and women—I carry them with me wherever I go;", "I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them;", "I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)", "", "2", "You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here;", "I believe that much unseen is also here.", "", "Here the profound lesson of reception, neither preference or denial;", "The black with his woolly head, the felon, the diseas’d, the illiterate person, are not", " denied;", "", "The birth, the hasting after the physician, the beggar’s tramp, the drunkard’s stagger,", " the", " laughing party of mechanics,", "The escaped youth, the rich person’s carriage, the fop, the eloping couple,", "The early market-man, the hearse, the moving of furniture into the town, the return back", " from", " the", " town,", "They pass—I also pass—anything passes—none can be interdicted;", "None but are accepted—none but are dear to me.", "", "3", "You air that serves me with breath to speak!", "You objects that call from diffusion my meanings, and give them shape!", "You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers!", "You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the roadsides!", "I think you are latent with unseen existences—you are so dear to me.", "", "You flagg’d walks of the cities! you strong curbs at the edges!", "You ferries! you planks and posts of wharves! you timber-lined sides! you distant ships!", "You rows of houses! you window-pierc’d façades! you roofs!", "You porches and entrances! you copings and iron guards!", "You windows whose transparent shells might expose so much!", "You doors and ascending steps! you arches!", "You gray stones of interminable pavements! you trodden crossings!", "From all that has been near you, I believe you have imparted to yourselves, and now would", " impart the", " same secretly to me;", "From the living and the dead I think you have peopled your impassive surfaces, and the", " spirits", " thereof would be evident and amicable with me.", "", "4", "The earth expanding right hand and left hand,", "The picture alive, every part in its best light,", "The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,", "The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.", "", "O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?", "Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost?", "Do you say, I am already prepared—I am well-beaten and undenied—adhere to me?", "", "O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you;", "You express me better than I can express myself;", "You shall be more to me than my poem.", "", "I think heroic deeds were all conceiv’d in the open air, and all great poems also;", "I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;", "(My judgments, thoughts, I henceforth try by the open air, the road;)", "I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like", " me;", "I think whoever I see must be happy.", "", "5", "From this hour, freedom!", "From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,", "Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,", "Listening to others, and considering well what they say,", "Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,", "Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.", "", "I inhale great draughts of space;", "The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.", "", "I am larger, better than I thought;", "I did not know I held so much goodness.", "", "All seems beautiful to me;", "I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to", " you.", "", "", "I will recruit for myself and you as I go;", "I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;", "I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;", "Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;", "Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be blessed, and shall bless me.", "", "6", "Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear, it would not amaze me;", "Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear’d, it would not astonish me.", "", "Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,", "It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth.", "", "Here a great personal deed has room;", "A great deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole race of men,", "Its effusion of strength and will overwhelms law, and mocks all authority and all argument", " against", " it.", "", "Here is the test of wisdom;", "Wisdom is not finally tested in schools;", "Wisdom cannot be pass’d from one having it, to another not having it;", "Wisdom is of the Soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof,", "Applies to all stages and objects and qualities, and is content,", "Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and the excellence of things;", "Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the Soul.", "", "Now I reëxamine philosophies and religions,", "They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds, and", " along", " the", " landscape and flowing currents.", "", "Here is realization;", "Here is a man tallied—he realizes here what he has in him;", "The past, the future, majesty, love—if they are vacant of you, you are vacant of them.", "", "Only the kernel of every object nourishes;", "Where is he who tears off the husks for you and me?", "Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes for you and me?", "", "Here is adhesiveness—it is not previously fashion’d—it is apropos;", "Do you know what it is, as you pass, to be loved by strangers?", "Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls?", "", "7", "Here is the efflux of the Soul;", "The efflux of the Soul comes from within, through embower’d gates, ever provoking", " questions:", "These yearnings, why are they? These thoughts in the darkness, why are they?", "Why are there men and women that while they are nigh me, the sun-light expands my blood?", "Why, when they leave me, do my pennants of joy sink flat and lank?", "Why are there trees I never walk under, but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?", "(I think they hang there winter and summer on those trees, and always drop fruit as I", " pass;)", "What is it I interchange so suddenly with strangers?", "What with some driver, as I ride on the seat by his side?", "What with some fisherman, drawing his seine by the shore, as I walk by, and pause?", "What gives me to be free to a woman’s or man’s good-will? What gives them to be free to", " mine?", "", "8", "The efflux of the Soul is happiness—here is happiness;", "I think it pervades the open air, waiting at all times;", "Now it flows unto us—we are rightly charged.", "", "Here rises the fluid and attaching character;", "The fluid and attaching character is the freshness and sweetness of man and woman;", "(The herbs of the morning sprout no fresher and sweeter every day out of the roots of", " themselves,", " than it sprouts fresh and sweet continually out of itself.)", "", "Toward the fluid and attaching character exudes the sweat of the love of young and old;", "From it falls distill’d the charm that mocks beauty and attainments;", "Toward it heaves the shuddering longing ache of contact.", "", "9", "Allons! whoever you are, come travel with me!", "Traveling with me, you find what never tires.", "", "The earth never tires;", "The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first—Nature is rude and incomprehensible", " at", " first;", "", "Be not discouraged—keep on—there are divine things, well envelop’d;", "I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.", "", "Allons! we must not stop here!", "However sweet these laid-up stores—however convenient this dwelling, we cannot remain", " here;", "However shelter’d this port, and however calm these waters, we must not anchor here;", "However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us, we are permitted to receive it but a", " little", " while.", "", "10", "Allons! the inducements shall be greater;", "We will sail pathless and wild seas;", "We will go where winds blow, waves dash, and the Yankee clipper speeds by under full sail.", "", "", "Allons! with power, liberty, the earth, the elements!", "Health, defiance, gayety, self-esteem, curiosity;", "Allons! from all formules!", "From your formules, O bat-eyed and materialistic priests!", "", "The stale cadaver blocks up the passage—the burial waits no longer.", "", "Allons! yet take warning!", "He traveling with me needs the best blood, thews, endurance;", "None may come to the trial, till he or she bring courage and health.", "", "Come not here if you have already spent the best of yourself;", "Only those may come, who come in sweet and determin’d bodies;", "No diseas’d person—no rum-drinker or venereal taint is permitted here.", "", "I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes, rhymes;", "We convince by our presence.", "", "11", "Listen! I will be honest with you;", "I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes;", "These are the days that must happen to you:", "", "You shall not heap up what is call’d riches,", "You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve,", "You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d—you hardly settle yourself to", " satisfaction, before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart,", "You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and mockings of those who remain behind you;", "What beckonings of love you receive, you shall only answer with passionate kisses of", " parting,", "You shall not allow the hold of those who spread their reach’d hands toward you.", "", "12", "Allons! after the GREAT COMPANIONS! and to belong to them!", "They too are on the road! they are the swift and majestic men; they are the greatest", " women.", "Over that which hinder’d them—over that which retarded—passing impediments large or small,", "", "Committers of crimes, committers of many beautiful virtues,", "Enjoyers of calms of seas, and storms of seas,", "Sailors of many a ship, walkers of many a mile of land,", "Habitués of many distant countries, habitués of far-distant dwellings,", "Trusters of men and women, observers of cities, solitary toilers,", "Pausers and contemplators of tufts, blossoms, shells of the shore,", "Dancers at wedding-dances, kissers of brides, tender helpers of children, bearers of", " children,", "", "Soldiers of revolts, standers by gaping graves, lowerers down of coffins,", "Journeyers over consecutive seasons, over the years—the curious years, each emerging from", " that", " which preceded it,", "Journeyers as with companions, namely, their own diverse phases,", "Forth-steppers from the latent unrealized baby-days,", "Journeyers gayly with their own youth—Journeyers with their bearded and well-grain’d", " manhood,", "Journeyers with their womanhood, ample, unsurpass’d, content,", "Journeyers with their own sublime old age of manhood or womanhood,", "Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe,", "Old age, flowing free with the delicious near-by freedom of death.", "", "13", "Allons! to that which is endless, as it was beginningless,", "To undergo much, tramps of days, rests of nights,", "To merge all in the travel they tend to, and the days and nights they tend to,", "Again to merge them in the start of superior journeys;", "To see nothing anywhere but what you may reach it and pass it,", "To conceive no time, however distant, but what you may reach it and pass it,", "To look up or down no road but it stretches and waits for you—however long, but it", " stretches", " and", " waits for you;", "To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,", "To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or", " purchase—abstracting", " the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;", "To take the best of the farmer’s farm and the rich man’s elegant villa, and the chaste", " blessings", " of the well-married couple, and the fruits of orchards and flowers of gardens,", "To take to your use out of the compact cities as you pass through,", "To carry buildings and streets with you afterward wherever you go,", "To gather the minds of men out of their brains as you encounter them—to gather the love", " out of", " their hearts,", "To take your lovers on the road with you, for all that you leave them behind you,", "To know the universe itself as a road—as many roads—as roads for traveling souls.", "", "14", "The Soul travels;", "The body does not travel as much as the soul;", "The body has just as great a work as the soul, and parts away at last for the journeys of", " the", " soul.", "", "", "All parts away for the progress of souls;", "All religion, all solid things, arts, governments,—all that was or is apparent upon this", " globe", " or", " any globe, falls into niches and corners before the procession of Souls along the grand", " roads", " of", " the", " universe.", "", "Of the progress of the souls of men and women along the grand roads of the universe, all", " other", " progress is the needed emblem and sustenance.", "", "Forever alive, forever forward,", "Stately, solemn, sad, withdrawn, baffled, mad, turbulent, feeble, dissatisfied,", "Desperate, proud, fond, sick, accepted by men, rejected by men,", "They go! they go! I know that they go, but I know not where they go;", "But I know that they go toward the best—toward something great.", "", "15", "Allons! whoever you are! come forth!", "You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house, though you built it, or though", " it", " has", " been built for you.", "", "Allons! out of the dark confinement!", "It is useless to protest—I know all, and expose it.", "", "Behold, through you as bad as the rest,", "Through the laughter, dancing, dining, supping, of people,", "Inside of dresses and ornaments, inside of those wash’d and trimm’d faces,", "Behold a secret silent loathing and despair.", "", "No husband, no wife, no friend, trusted to hear the confession;", "Another self, a duplicate of every one, skulking and hiding it goes,", "Formless and wordless through the streets of the cities, polite and bland in the parlors,", "In the cars of rail-roads, in steamboats, in the public assembly,", "Home to the houses of men and women, at the table, in the bed-room, everywhere,", "Smartly attired, countenance smiling, form upright, death under the breast-bones, hell", " under", " the", " skull-bones,", "Under the broadcloth and gloves, under the ribbons and artificial flowers,", "Keeping fair with the customs, speaking not a syllable of itself,", "Speaking of anything else, but never of itself.", "", "16", "Allons! through struggles and wars!", "The goal that was named cannot be countermanded.", "", "Have the past struggles succeeded?", "What has succeeded? yourself? your nation? nature?", "Now understand me well—It is provided in the essence of things, that from any fruition of", " success,", " no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary.", "", "My call is the call of battle—I nourish active rebellion;", "He going with me must go well arm’d;", "He going with me goes often with spare diet, poverty, angry enemies, desertions.", "", "17", "Allons! the road is before us!", "It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well.", "", "Allons! be not detain’d!", "Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen’d!", "Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d!", "Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!", "Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge", " expound", " the", " law.", "", "Mon enfant! I give you my hand!", "I give you my love, more precious than money,", "I give you myself, before preaching or law;", "Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?", "Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?" ], "linecount": "313" }, { "title": "Song II: Have No Thought for Tomorrow", "author": "William Morris", "lines": [ "Love is enough: have no thought for to-morrow", "If ye lie down this even in rest from your pain,", "Ye who have paid for your bliss with great sorrow:", "For as it was once so it shall be again.", "Ye shall cry out for death as ye stretch forth in vain", "", "Feeble hands to the hands that would help but they may not,", "Cry out to deaf ears that would hear if they could;", "Till again shall the change come, and words your lips say not", "Your hearts make all plain in the best wise they would", "And the world ye thought waning is glorious and good:", "", "And no morning now mocks you and no nightfall is weary,", "The plains are not empty of song and of deed:", "The sea strayeth not, nor the mountains are dreary;", "The wind is not helpless for any man's need,", "Nor falleth the rain but for thistle and weed.", "", "O surely this morning all sorrow is hidden,", "All battle is hushed for this even at least;", "And no one this noontide may hunger, unbidden", "To the flowers and the singing and the joy of your feast", "Where silent ye sit midst the world's tale increased.", "", "Lo, the lovers unloved that draw nigh for your blessing!", "For your tale makes the dreaming whereby yet they live", "The dreams of the day with their hopes of redressing,", "The dreams of the night with the kisses they give,", "The dreams of the dawn wherein death and hope strive.", "", "Ah, what shall we say then, but that earth threatened often", "Shall live on for ever that such things may be,", "That the dry seed shall quicken, the hard earth shall soften,", "And the spring-bearing birds flutter north o'er the sea,", "That earth's garden may bloom round my love's feet and me?" ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "O Gather Me the Rose", "author": "William Ernest Henley", "lines": [ "O gather me the rose, the rose,", "While yet in flower we find it,", "For summer smiles, but summer goes,", "And winter waits behind it.", "", "For with the dream foregone, foregone,", "The deed foreborn forever,", "The worm Regret will canker on,", "And time will turn him never.", "", "So were it well to love, my love,", "And cheat of any laughter", "The fate beneath us, and above,", "The dark before and after.", "", "The myrtle and the rose, the rose,", "The sunshine and the swallow,", "The dream that comes, the wish that goes", "The memories that follow!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Sir Galahad, a Christmas Mystery", "author": "William Morris", "lines": [ "It is the longest night in all the year,", "Near on the day when the Lord Christ was born;", "Six hours ago I came and sat down here,", "And ponder'd sadly, wearied and forlorn.", "", "The winter wind that pass'd the chapel door,", "Sang out a moody tune, that went right well", "With mine own thoughts: I look'd down on the floor,", "Between my feet, until I heard a bell", "", "Sound a long way off through the forest deep,", "And toll on steadily; a drowsiness", "Came on me, so that I fell half asleep,", "As I sat there not moving: less and less", "", "I saw the melted snow that hung in beads", "Upon my steel-shoes; less and less I saw", "Between the tiles the bunches of small weeds:", "Heartless and stupid, with no touch of awe", "", "Upon me, half-shut eyes upon the ground,", "I thought: O Galahad! the days go by,", "Stop and cast up now that which you have found,", "So sorely you have wrought and painfully.", "", "Night after night your horse treads down alone", "The sere damp fern, night after night you sit", "Holding the bridle like a man of stone,", "Dismal, unfriended: what thing comes of it?", "", "And what if Palomydes also ride,", "And over many a mountain and bare heath", "Follow the questing beast with none beside?", "Is he not able still to hold his breath", "", "With thoughts of Iseult? doth he not grow pale", "With weary striving, to seem best of all", "To her, \"as she is best,\" he saith? to fail", "Is nothing to him, he can never fall.", "", "For unto such a man love-sorrow is", "So dear a thing unto his constant heart,", "That even if he never win one kiss,", "Or touch from Iseult, it will never part.", "", "And he will never know her to be worse", "Than in his happiest dreams he thinks she is:", "Good knight, and faithful, you have 'scaped the curse", "In wonderful-wise; you have great store of bliss.", "", "Yea, what if Father Launcelot ride out,", "Can he not think of Guenevere's arms, round", "Warm and lithe, about his neck, and shout", "Till all the place grows joyful with the sound?", "", "And when he lists can often see her face,", "And think, \"Next month I kiss you, or next week,", "And still you think of me\": therefore the place", "Grows very pleasant, whatsoever he seek.", "", "But me, who ride alone, some carle shall find", "Dead in my arms in the half-melted snow,", "When all unkindly with the shifting wind,", "The thaw comes on at Candlemas: I know", "", "Indeed that they will say: \"This Galahad", "If he had lived had been a right good knight;", "Ah! poor chaste body!\" but they will be glad,", "Not most alone, but all, when in their sight", "", "That very evening in their scarlet sleeves", "The gay-dress'd minstrels sing; no maid will talk", "Of sitting on my tomb, until the leaves,", "Grown big upon the bushes of the walk,", "", "East of the Palace-pleasaunce, make it hard", "To see the minster therefrom: well-a-day!", "Before the trees by autumn were well bared,", "I saw a damozel with gentle play,", "", "Within that very walk say last farewell", "To her dear knight, just riding out to find", "(Why should I choke to say it?) the Sangreal,", "And their last kisses sunk into my mind,", "", "Yea, for she stood lean'd forward on his breast,", "Rather, scarce stood; the back of one dear hand,", "That it might well be kiss'd, she held and press'd", "Against his lips; long time they stood there, fann'd", "", "By gentle gusts of quiet frosty wind,", "Till Mador de la porte a-going by,", "And my own horsehoofs roused them; they untwined,", "And parted like a dream. In this way I,", "", "With sleepy face bent to the chapel floor,", "Kept musing half asleep, till suddenly", "A sharp bell rang from close beside the door,", "And I leapt up when something pass'd me by,", "", "Shrill ringing going with it, still half blind", "I stagger'd after, a great sense of awe", "At every step kept gathering on my mind,", "Thereat I have no marvel, for I saw", "", "One sitting on the altar as a throne,", "Whose face no man could say he did not know,", "And though the bell still rang, he sat alone,", "With raiment half blood-red, half white as snow.", "", "Right so I fell upon the floor and knelt,", "Not as one kneels in church when mass is said,", "But in a heap, quite nerveless, for I felt", "The first time what a thing was perfect dread.", "", "But mightily the gentle voice came down:", "\"Rise up, and look and listen, Galahad,", "Good knight of God, for you will see no frown", "Upon my face; I come to make you glad.", "", "\"For that you say that you are all alone,", "I will be with you always, and fear not", "You are uncared for, though no maiden moan", "Above your empty tomb; for Launcelot,", "", "\"He in good time shall be my servant too,", "Meantime, take note whose sword first made him knight,", "And who has loved him alway, yea, and who", "Still trusts him alway, though in all men's sight,", "", "\"He is just what you know, O Galahad,", "This love is happy even as you say,", "But would you for a little time be glad,", "To make ME sorry long, day after day?", "", "\"Her warm arms round his neck half throttle ME,", "The hot love-tears burn deep like spots of lead,", "Yea, and the years pass quick: right dismally", "Will Launcelot at one time hang his head;", "", "\"Yea, old and shrivell'd he shall win my love.", "Poor Palomydes fretting out his soul!", "Not always is he able, son, to move", "His love, and do it honour: needs must roll", "", "\"The proudest destrier sometimes in the dust,", "And then 'tis weary work; he strives beside", "Seem better than he is, so that his trust", "Is always on what chances may betide;", "", "\"And so he wears away, my servant, too,", "When all these things are gone, and wretchedly", "He sits and longs to moan for Iseult, who", "Is no care now to Palomydes: see,", "", "\"O good son, Galahad, upon this day,", "Now even, all these things are on your side,", "But these you fight not for; look up, I say,", "And see how I can love you, for no pride", "", "\"Closes your eyes, no vain lust keeps them down.", "See now you have ME always; following", "That holy vision, Galahad, go on,", "Until at last you come to ME to sing", "", "\"In Heaven always, and to walk around", "The garden where I am.\" He ceased, my face", "And wretched body fell upon the ground;", "And when I look'd again, the holy place", "", "Was empty; but right so the bell again", "Came to the chapel-door, there entered", "Two angels first, in white, without a stain,", "And scarlet wings, then, after them, a bed", "", "Four ladies bore, and set it down beneath", "The very altar-step, and while for fear", "I scarcely dared to move or draw my breath,", "Those holy ladies gently came a-near,", "", "And quite unarm'd me, saying: \"Galahad,", "Rest here awhile and sleep, and take no thought", "Of any other thing than being glad;", "Hither the Sangreal will be shortly brought,", "", "\"Yet must you sleep the while it stayeth here.\"", "Right so they went away, and I, being weary,", "Slept long and dream'd of Heaven: the bell comes near,", "I doubt it grows to morning. Miserere!", "", "", "[Enter Two Angels in white, with scarlet wings; also, Four Ladies in gowns of red and green; also an Angel, bearing in his hands a surcoat of white, with a red cross.]", "", "", "AN ANGEL", "", "O servant of the high God, Galahad!", "Rise and be arm'd: the Sangreal is gone forth", "Through the great forest, and you must be had", "Unto the sea that lieth on the north:", "", "There shall you find the wondrous ship wherein", "The spindles of King Solomon are laid,", "And the sword that no man draweth without sin,", "But if he be most pure: and there is stay'd,", "", "Hard by, Sir Launcelot, whom you will meet", "In some short space upon that ship: first, though,", "Will come here presently that lady sweet,", "Sister of Percival, whom you well know,", "", "And with her Bors and Percival: stand now,", "These ladies will to arm you.", "", "", "[FIRST LADY, putting on the hauberk]", "", "Galahad,", "That I may stand so close beneath your brow,", "Margaret of Antioch, am glad.", "", "", "[SECOND LADY, girding him with the sword.]", "", "That I may stand and touch you with my hand,", "O Galahad, I, Cecily, am glad.", "", "", "[THIRD LADY, buckling on the spurs.]", "", "That I may kneel while up above you stand,", "And gaze at me, O holy Galahad,", "I, Lucy, am most glad.", "", "", "[FOURTH LADY, putting on the basnet.]", "", "O gentle knight,", "That you bow down to us in reverence,", "We are most glad, I, Katherine, with delight", "Must needs fall trembling.", "", "", "[ANGEL, putting on the crossed surcoat.]", "", "Galahad, we go hence,", "", "For here, amid the straying of the snow,", "Come Percival's sister, Bors, and Percival.", "", "[The Four Ladies carry out the bed, and all go but Galahad.]", "", "", "GALAHAD.", "", "How still and quiet everything seems now:", "They come, too, for I hear the horsehoofs fall.", "", "[Enter Sir Bors, Sir Percival and his Sister.]", "", "", "Fair friends and gentle lady, God you save!", "A many marvels have been here to-night;", "Tell me what news of Launcelot you have,", "And has God's body ever been in sight?", "", "SIR BORS.", "", "Why, as for seeing that same holy thing,", "As we were riding slowly side by side,", "An hour ago, we heard a sweet voice sing,", "And through the bare twigs saw a great light glide,", "", "With many-colour'd raiment, but far off;", "And so pass'd quickly: from the court nought good;", "Poor merry Dinadan, that with jape and scoff", "Kept us all merry, in a little wood", "", "Was found all hack'd and dead: Sir Lionel", "And Gauwaine have come back from the great quest,", "Just merely shamed; and Lauvaine, who loved well", "Your father Launcelot, at the king's behest", "", "Went out to seek him, but was almost slain,", "Perhaps is dead now; everywhere", "The knights come foil'd from the great quest, in vain;", "In vain they struggle for the vision fair." ], "linecount": "214" }, { "title": "King Arthur's Tomb", "author": "William Morris", "lines": [ "Hot August noon: already on that day", "Since sunrise through the Wiltshire downs, most sad", "Of mouth and eye, he had gone leagues of way;", "Ay and by night, till whether good or bad", "", "He was, he knew not, though he knew perchance", "That he was Launcelot, the bravest knight", "Of all who since the world was, have borne lance,", "Or swung their swords in wrong cause or in right.", "", "Nay, he knew nothing now, except that where", "The Glastonbury gilded towers shine,", "A lady dwelt, whose name was Guenevere;", "This he knew also; that some fingers twine,", "", "Not only in a man's hair, even his heart,", "(Making him good or bad I mean,) but in his life,", "Skies, earth, men's looks and deeds, all that has part,", "Not being ourselves, in that half-sleep, half-strife,", "", "(Strange sleep, strange strife,) that men call living; so", "Was Launcelot most glad when the moon rose,", "Because it brought new memories of her. \"Lo,", "Between the trees a large moon, the wind lows", "", "\"Not loud, but as a cow begins to low,", "Wishing for strength to make the herdsman hear:", "The ripe corn gathereth dew; yea, long ago,", "In the old garden life, my Guenevere", "", "\"Loved to sit still among the flowers, till night", "Had quite come on, hair loosen'd, for she said,", "Smiling like heaven, that its fairness might", "Draw up the wind sooner to cool her head.", "", "\"Now while I ride how quick the moon gets small,", "As it did then: I tell myself a tale", "That will not last beyond the whitewashed wall,", "Thoughts of some joust must help me through the vale,", "", "\"Keep this till after: How Sir Gareth ran", "A good course that day under my Queen's eyes,", "And how she sway'd laughing at Dinadan.", "No. Back again, the other thoughts will rise,", "", "\"And yet I think so fast 'twill end right soon:", "Verily then I think, that Guenevere,", "Made sad by dew and wind, and tree-barred moon,", "Did love me more than ever, was more dear", "", "\"To me than ever, she would let me lie", "And kiss her feet, or, if I sat behind,", "Would drop her hand and arm most tenderly,", "And touch my mouth. And she would let me wind", "", "\"Her hair around my neck, so that it fell", "Upon my red robe, strange in the twilight", "With many unnamed colours, till the bell", "Of her mouth on my cheek sent a delight", "", "\"Through all my ways of being; like the stroke", "Wherewith God threw all men upon the face", "When he took Enoch, and when Enoch woke", "With a changed body in the happy place.", "", "\"Once, I remember, as I sat beside,", "She turn'd a little, and laid back her head,", "And slept upon my breast; I almost died", "In those night-watches with my love and dread.", "", "\"There lily-like she bow'd her head and slept,", "And I breathed low, and did not dare to move,", "But sat and quiver'd inwardly, thoughts crept,", "And frighten'd me with pulses of my Love.", "", "\"The stars shone out above the doubtful green", "Of her bodice, in the green sky overhead;", "Pale in the green sky were the stars I ween,", "Because the moon shone like a star she shed", "", "\"When she dwelt up in heaven a while ago,", "And ruled all things but God: the night went on,", "The wind grew cold, and the white moon grew low,", "One hand had fallen down, and now lay on", "", "\"My cold stiff palm; there were no colours then", "For near an hour, and I fell asleep", "In spite of all my striving, even when", "I held her whose name-letters make me leap.", "", "\"I did not sleep long, feeling that in sleep", "I did some loved one wrong, so that the sun", "Had only just arisen from the deep", "Still land of colours, when before me one", "", "\"Stood whom I knew, but scarcely dared to touch,", "She seemed to have changed so in the night;", "Moreover she held scarlet lilies, such", "As Maiden Margaret bears upon the light", "", "\"Of the great church walls, natheless did I walk", "Through the fresh wet woods, and the wheat that morn,", "Touching her hair and hand and mouth, and talk", "Of love we held, nigh hid among the corn.", "", "\"Back to the palace, ere the sun grew high,", "We went, and in a cool green room all day", "I gazed upon the arras giddily,", "Where the wind set the silken kings a-sway.", "", "\"I could not hold her hand, or see her face;", "For which may God forgive me! but I think,", "Howsoever, that she was not in that place.\"", "These memories Launcelot was quick to drink;", "", "And when these fell, some paces past the wall,", "There rose yet others, but they wearied more,", "And tasted not so sweet; they did not fall", "So soon, but vaguely wrenched his strained heart sore", "", "In shadowy slipping from his grasp: these gone,", "A longing followed; if he might but touch", "That Guenevere at once! Still night, the lone", "Grey horse's head before him vex'd him much,", "", "In steady nodding over the grey road:", "Still night, and night, and night, and emptied heart", "Of any stories; what a dismal load", "Time grew at last, yea, when the night did part,", "", "And let the sun flame over all, still there", "The horse's grey ears turn'd this way and that,", "And still he watch'd them twitching in the glare", "Of the morning sun, behind them still he sat,", "", "Quite wearied out with all the wretched night,", "Until about the dustiest of the day,", "On the last down's brow he drew his rein in sight", "Of the Glastonbury roofs that choke the way.", "", "And he was now quite giddy as before,", "When she slept by him, tired out, and her hair", "Was mingled with the rushes on the floor,", "And he, being tired too, was scarce aware", "", "Of her presence; yet as he sat and gazed,", "A shiver ran throughout him, and his breath", "Came slower, he seem'd suddenly amazed,", "As though he had not heard of Arthur's death.", "", "This for a moment only, presently", "He rode on giddy still, until he reach'd", "A place of apple-trees, by the thorn-tree", "Wherefrom St. Joseph in the days past preached.", "", "Dazed there he laid his head upon a tomb,", "Not knowing it was Arthur's, at which sight", "One of her maidens told her, \"He is come,\"", "And she went forth to meet him; yet a blight", "", "Had settled on her, all her robes were black,", "With a long white veil only; she went slow,", "As one walks to be slain, her eyes did lack", "Half her old glory, yea, alas! the glow", "", "Had left her face and hands; this was because", "As she lay last night on her purple bed,", "Wishing for morning, grudging every pause", "Of the palace clocks, until that Launcelot's head", "", "Should lie on her breast, with all her golden hair", "Each side: when suddenly the thing grew drear,", "In morning twilight, when the grey downs bare", "Grew into lumps of sin to Guenevere.", "", "At first she said no word, but lay quite still,", "Only her mouth was open, and her eyes", "Gazed wretchedly about from hill to hill;", "As though she asked, not with so much surprise", "", "As tired disgust, what made them stand up there", "So cold and grey. After, a spasm took", "Her face, and all her frame, she caught her hair,", "All her hair, in both hands, terribly she shook,", "", "And rose till she was sitting in the bed,", "Set her teeth hard, and shut her eyes and seem'd", "As though she would have torn it from her head,", "Natheless she dropp'd it, lay down, as she deem'd", "", "It matter'd not whatever she might do:", "O Lord Christ! pity on her ghastly face!", "Those dismal hours while the cloudless blue", "Drew the sun higher: He did give her grace;", "", "Because at last she rose up from her bed,", "And put her raiment on, and knelt before", "The blessed rood, and with her dry lips said,", "Muttering the words against the marble floor:", "", "\"Unless you pardon, what shall I do, Lord,", "But go to hell? and there see day by day", "Foul deed on deed, hear foulest word on word,", "For ever and ever, such as on the way", "", "\"To Camelot I heard once from a churl,", "That curled me up upon my jennet's neck", "With bitter shame; how then, Lord, should I curl", "For ages and for ages? dost thou reck", "", "\"That I am beautiful, Lord, even as you", "And your dear mother? why did I forget", "You were so beautiful, and good, and true,", "That you loved me so, Guenevere? O yet", "", "\"If even I go to hell, I cannot choose", "But love you, Christ, yea, though I cannot keep", "From loving Launcelot; O Christ! must I lose", "My own heart's love? see, though I cannot weep,", "", "\"Yet am I very sorry for my sin;", "Moreover, Christ, I cannot bear that hell,", "I am most fain to love you, and to win", "A place in heaven some time: I cannot tell:", "", "\"Speak to me, Christ! I kiss, kiss, kiss your feet;", "Ah! now I weep!\" The maid said, \"By the tomb", "He waiteth for you, lady,\" coming fleet,", "Not knowing what woe filled up all the room.", "", "So Guenevere rose and went to meet him there,", "He did not hear her coming, as he lay", "On Arthur's head, till some of her long hair", "Brush'd on the new-cut stone: \"Well done! to pray", "", "\"For Arthur, my dear Lord, the greatest king", "That ever lived.\" \"Guenevere! Guenevere!", "Do you not know me, are you gone mad? fling", "Your arms and hair about me, lest I fear", "", "\"You are not Guenevere, but some other thing.\"", "\"Pray you forgive me, fair lord Launcelot!", "I am not mad, but I am sick; they cling,", "God's curses, unto such as I am; not", "", "\"Ever again shall we twine arms and lips.\"", "\"Yea, she is mad: thy heavy law, O Lord,", "Is very tight about her now, and grips", "Her poor heart, so that no right word", "", "\"Can reach her mouth; so, Lord, forgive her now,", "That she not knowing what she does, being mad,", "Kills me in this way: Guenevere, bend low", "And kiss me once! for God's love kiss me! sad", "", "\"Though your face is, you look much kinder now;", "Yea once, once for the last time kiss me, lest I die.\"", "\"Christ! my hot lips are very near his brow,", "Help me to save his soul! Yea, verily,", "", "\"Across my husband's head, fair Launcelot!", "Fair serpent mark'd with V upon the head!", "This thing we did while yet he was alive,", "Why not, O twisting knight, now he is dead?", "", "\"Yea, shake! shake now and shiver! if you can", "Remember anything for agony,", "Pray you remember how when the wind ran", "One cool spring evening through fair aspen-tree,", "", "\"And elm and oak about the palace there", "The king came back from battle, and I stood", "To meet him, with my ladies, on the stair,", "My face made beautiful with my young blood.\"", "", "\"Will she lie now, Lord God?\" \"Remember too,", "Wrung heart, how first before the knights there came", "A royal bier, hung round with green and blue,", "About it shone great tapers with sick flame.", "", "\"And thereupon Lucius, the Emperor,", "Lay royal-robed, but stone-cold now and dead,", "Not able to hold sword or sceptre more,", "But not quite grim; because his cloven head", "", "\"Bore no marks now of Launcelot's bitter sword,", "Being by embalmers deftly solder'd up;", "So still it seem'd the face of a great lord,", "Being mended as a craftsman mends a cup.", "", "\"Also the heralds sung rejoicingly", "To their long trumpets; 'Fallen under shield,", "Here lieth Lucius, King of Italy,", "Slain by Lord Launcelot in open field.'", "", "\"Thereat the people shouted: 'Launcelot!'", "And through the spears I saw you drawing nigh,", "You and Lord Arthur: nay, I saw you not,", "But rather Arthur, God would not let die,", "", "\"I hoped, these many years; he should grow great,", "And in his great arms still encircle me,", "Kissing my face, half blinded with the heat", "Of king's love for the queen I used to be.", "", "\"Launcelot, Launcelot, why did he take your hand,", "When he had kissed me in his kingly way?", "Saying: 'This is the knight whom all the land", "Calls Arthur's banner, sword, and shield to-day;", "", "\"'Cherish him, love.' Why did your long lips cleave", "In such strange way unto my fingers then?", "So eagerly glad to kiss, so loath to leave", "When you rose up? Why among helmed men", "", "\"Could I always tell you by your long strong arms,", "And sway like an angel's in your saddle there?", "Why sicken'd I so often with alarms", "Over the tilt-yard? Why were you more fair", "", "\"Than aspens in the autumn at their best?", "Why did you fill all lands with your great fame,", "So that Breuse even, as he rode, fear'd lest", "At turning of the way your shield should flame?", "", "\"Was it nought then, my agony and strife?", "When as day passed by day, year after year,", "I found I could not live a righteous life!", "Didst ever think queens held their truth for dear?", "", "\"O, but your lips say: 'Yea, but she was cold", "Sometimes, always uncertain as the spring;", "When I was sad she would be overbold,", "Longing for kisses. When war-bells did ring,", "", "\"'The back-toll'd bells of noisy Camelot.'\"", "\"Now, Lord God, listen! listen, Guenevere,", "Though I am weak just now, I think there's not", "A man who dares to say: 'You hated her,", "", "\"'And left her moaning while you fought your fill", "In the daisied meadows!' lo you her thin hand,", "That on the carven stone can not keep still,", "Because she loves me against God's command,", "", "\"Has often been quite wet with tear on tear,", "Tears Launcelot keeps somewhere, surely not", "In his own heart, perhaps in Heaven, where", "He will not be these ages.\" \"Launcelot!", "", "\"Loud lips, wrung heart! I say when the bells rang,", "The noisy back-toll'd bells of Camelot,", "There were two spots on earth, the thrushes sang", "In the lonely gardens where my love was not,", "", "\"Where I was almost weeping; I dared not", "Weep quite in those days, lest one maid should say,", "In tittering whispers: 'Where is Launcelot", "To wipe with some kerchief those tears away?'", "", "\"Another answer sharply with brows knit,", "And warning hand up, scarcely lower though:", "'You speak too loud, see you, she heareth it,", "This tigress fair has claws, as I well know,", "", "\"'As Launcelot knows too, the poor knight! well-a-day!", "Why met he not with Iseult from the West,", "Or better still, Iseult of Brittany?", "Perchance indeed quite ladyless were best.'", "", "\"Alas, my maids, you loved not overmuch", "Queen Guenevere, uncertain as sunshine", "In March; forgive me! for my sin being such,", "About my whole life, all my deeds did twine,", "", "\"Made me quite wicked; as I found out then,", "I think; in the lonely palace where each morn", "We went, my maids and I, to say prayers when", "They sang mass in the chapel on the lawn.", "", "\"And every morn I scarce could pray at all,", "For Launcelot's red-golden hair would play,", "Instead of sunlight, on the painted wall,", "Mingled with dreams of what the priest did say;", "", "\"Grim curses out of Peter and of Paul;", "Judging of strange sins in Leviticus;", "Another sort of writing on the wall,", "Scored deep across the painted heads of us.", "", "\"Christ sitting with the woman at the well,", "And Mary Magdalen repenting there,", "Her dimmed eyes scorch'd and red at sight of hell", "So hardly 'scaped, no gold light on her hair.", "", "\"And if the priest said anything that seemed", "To touch upon the sin they said we did,", "(This in their teeth) they looked as if they deem'd", "That I was spying what thoughts might be hid", "", "\"Under green-cover'd bosoms, heaving quick", "Beneath quick thoughts; while they grew red with shame,", "And gazed down at their feet: while I felt sick,", "And almost shriek'd if one should call my name.", "", "\"The thrushes sang in the lone garden there:", "But where you were the birds were scared I trow:", "Clanging of arms about pavilions fair,", "Mixed with the knights' laughs; there, as I well know,", "", "\"Rode Launcelot, the king of all the band,", "And scowling Gauwaine, like the night in day,", "And handsome Gareth, with his great white hand", "Curl'd round the helm-crest, ere he join'd the fray;", "", "\"And merry Dinadan with sharp dark face,", "All true knights loved to see; and in the fight", "Great Tristram, and though helmed you could trace", "In all his bearing the frank noble knight;", "", "\"And by him Palomydes, helmet off,", "He fought, his face brush'd by his hair,", "Red heavy swinging hair; he fear'd a scoff", "So overmuch, though what true knight would dare", "", "\"To mock that face, fretted with useless care,", "And bitter useless striving after love?", "O Palomydes, with much honour bear", "Beast Glatysaunt upon your shield, above", "", "\"Your helm that hides the swinging of your hair,", "And think of Iseult, as your sword drives through", "Much mail and plate: O God, let me be there", "A little time, as I was long ago!", "", "\"Because stout Gareth lets his spear fall low,", "Gauwaine and Launcelot, and Dinadan", "Are helm'd and waiting; let the trumpets go!", "Bend over, ladies, to see all you can!", "", "\"Clench teeth, dames, yea, clasp hands, for Gareth's spear", "Throws Kay from out his saddle, like a stone", "From a castle-window when the foe draws near:", "'Iseult!' Sir Dinadan rolleth overthrown.", "", "\"'Iseult!' again: the pieces of each spear", "Fly fathoms up, and both the great steeds reel;", "'Tristram for Iseult!' 'Iseult!' and 'Guenevere!'", "The ladies' names bite verily like steel.", "", "\"They bite: bite me, Lord God! I shall go mad,", "Or else die kissing him, he is so pale,", "He thinks me mad already, O bad! bad!", "Let me lie down a little while and wail.\"", "", "\"No longer so, rise up, I pray you, love,", "And slay me really, then we shall be heal'd,", "Perchance, in the aftertime by God above.\"", "\"Banner of Arthur, with black-bended shield", "", "\"Sinister-wise across the fair gold ground!", "Here let me tell you what a knight you are,", "O sword and shield of Arthur! you are found", "A crooked sword, I think, that leaves a scar", "", "\"On the bearer's arm, so be he thinks it straight,", "Twisted Malay's crease beautiful blue-grey,", "Poison'd with sweet fruit; as he found too late,", "My husband Arthur, on some bitter day!", "", "\"O sickle cutting hemlock the day long!", "That the husbandman across his shoulder hangs,", "And, going homeward about evensong,", "Dies the next morning, struck through by the fangs!", "", "\"Banner, and sword, and shield, you dare not die,", "Lest you meet Arthur in the other world,", "And, knowing who you are, he pass you by,", "Taking short turns that he may watch you curl'd,", "", "\"Body and face and limbs in agony,", "Lest he weep presently and go away,", "Saying: 'I loved him once,' with a sad sigh,", "Now I have slain him, Lord, let me go too, I pray.", "", "[Launcelot falls.]", "", "\"Alas! alas! I know not what to do,", "If I run fast it is perchance that I", "May fall and stun myself, much better so,", "Never, never again! not even when I die.\"", "", "[LAUNCELOT, on awaking.]", "", "\"I stretch'd my hands towards her and fell down,", "How long I lay in swoon I cannot tell:", "My head and hands were bleeding from the stone,", "When I rose up, also I heard a bell.\"" ], "linecount": "398" }, { "title": "The Haystack in the Floods", "author": "William Morris", "lines": [ "Had she come all the way for this,", "To part at last without a kiss?", "Yea, had she borne the dirt and rain", "That her own eyes might see him slain", "Beside the haystack in the floods?", "", "Along the dripping leafless woods,", "The stirrup touching either shoe,", "She rode astride as troopers do;", "With kirtle kilted to her knee,", "To which the mud splash'd wretchedly;", "And the wet dripp'd from every tree", "Upon her head and heavy hair,", "And on her eyelids broad and fair;", "The tears and rain ran down her face.", "By fits and starts they rode apace,", "And very often was his place", "Far off from her; he had to ride", "Ahead, to see what might betide", "When the roads cross'd; and sometimes, when", "There rose a murmuring from his men", "Had to turn back with promises;", "Ah me! she had but little ease;", "And often for pure doubt and dread", "She sobb'd, made giddy in the head", "By the swift riding; while, for cold,", "Her slender fingers scarce could hold", "The wet reins; yea, and scarcely, too,", "She felt the foot within her shoe", "Against the stirrup: all for this,", "To part at last without a kiss", "Beside the haystack in the floods.", "", "For when they near'd that old soak'd hay,", "They saw across the only way", "That Judas, Godmar, and the three", "Red running lions dismally", "Grinn'd from his pennon, under which", "In one straight line along the ditch,", "They counted thirty heads.", "", "So then", "While Robert turn'd round to his men", "She saw at once the wretched end,", "And, stooping down, tried hard to rend", "Her coif the wrong way from her head,", "And hid her eyes; while Robert said:", "\"Nay, love, 'tis scarcely two to one,", "At Poictiers where we made them run", "So fast--why, sweet my love, good cheer,", "The Gascon frontier is so near.", "Naught after this.\"", "", "But, \"Oh!\" she said,", "\"My God! my God! I have to tread", "The long way back without you; then", "The court at Paris; those six men;", "The gratings of the Chatelet;", "The swift Seine on some rainy day", "Like this, and people standing by", "And laughing, while my weak hands try", "To recollect how strong men swim.", "All this, or else a life with him,", "For which I should be damned at last.", "Would God that this next hour were past!\"", "", "He answer'd not, but cried his cry,", "\"St. George for Marny!\" cheerily;", "And laid his hand upon her rein.", "Alas! no man of all his train", "Gave back that cheery cry again;", "And, while for rage his thumb beat fast", "Upon his sword-hilts, some one cast", "About his neck a kerchief long,", "And bound him.", "", "Then they went along", "To Godmar; who said: \"Now, Jehane,", "Your lover's life is on the wane", "So fast, that, if this very hour", "You yield not as my paramour,", "He will not see the rain leave off--", "Nay, keep your tongue from gibe or scoff,", "Sir Robert, or I slay you now.\"", "", "She laid her hand upon her brow,", "Then gazed upon the palm, as though", "She thought her forehead bled, and--\"No!\"", "She said, and turn'd her head away,", "As there were nothing else to say,", "And everything were settled: red", "Grew Godmar's face from chin to head:", "\"Jehane, on yonder hill there stands", "My castle, guarding well my lands:", "What hinders me from taking you,", "And doing that I list to do", "To your fair wilful body, while", "Your knight lies dead?\"", "", "A wicked smile", "Wrinkled her face, her lips grew thin,", "A long way out she thrust her chin:", "\"You know that I would strangle you", "While you were sleeping; or bite through", "Your throat, by God's help--ah!\" she said,", "\"Lord Jesus, pity your poor maid!", "For in such wise they hem me in,", "I cannot choose but sin and sin,", "Whatever happens: yet I think", "They could not make me eat or drink,", "And so should I just reach my rest.\"", "\"Nay, if you do not my behest,", "O Jehane! though I love you well,\"", "Said Godmar, \"would I fail to tell", "All that I know?\" \"Foul lies,\" she said.", "\"Eh? lies, my Jehane? by God's head,", "At Paris folks would deem them true!", "Do you know, Jehane, they cry for you:", "'Jehane the brown! Jehane the brown!", "Give us Jehane to burn or drown!'--", "Eh--gag me Robert!--sweet my friend,", "This were indeed a piteous end", "For those long fingers, and long feet,", "And long neck, and smooth shoulders sweet;", "An end that few men would forget", "That saw it--So, an hour yet:", "Consider, Jehane, which to take", "Of life or death!\"", "", "So, scarce awake,", "Dismounting, did she leave that place,", "And totter some yards: with her face", "Turn'd upward to the sky she lay,", "Her head on a wet heap of hay,", "And fell asleep: and while she slept,", "And did not dream, the minutes crept", "Round to the twelve again; but she,", "Being waked at last, sigh'd quietly,", "And strangely childlike came, and said:", "\"I will not.\" Straightway Godmar's head,", "As though it hung on strong wires, turn'd", "Most sharply round, and his face burn'd.", "", "For Robert--both his eyes were dry,", "He could not weep, but gloomily", "He seem'd to watch the rain; yea, too,", "His lips were firm; he tried once more", "To touch her lips; she reach'd out, sore", "And vain desire so tortured them,", "The poor grey lips, and now the hem", "Of his sleeve brush'd them.", "", "With a start", "Up Godmar rose, thrust them apart;", "From Robert's throat he loosed the bands", "Of silk and mail; with empty hands", "Held out, she stood and gazed, and saw", "The long bright blade without a flaw", "Glide out from Godmar's sheath, his hand", "In Robert's hair, she saw him bend", "Back Robert's head; she saw him send", "The thin steel down; the blow told well,", "Right backward the knight Robert fell,", "And moaned as dogs do, being half dead,", "Unwitting, as I deem: so then", "Godmar turn'd grinning to his men,", "Who ran, some five or six, and beat", "His head to pieces at their feet.", "", "Then Godmar turn'd again and said:", "\"So, Jehane, the first fitte is read!", "Take note, my lady, that your way", "Lies backward to the Chatelet!\"", "She shook her head and gazed awhile", "At her cold hands with a rueful smile,", "As though this thing had made her mad.", "", "This was the parting that they had", "Beside the haystack in the floods." ], "linecount": "166" }, { "title": "The Summary History of Sir William Wallace", "author": "William Topaz McGonagall", "lines": [ "Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie,", "I'm told he went to the High School in Dundee,", "For to learn to read and write,", "And after that he learned to fight,", "While at the High School in Dundee,", "The Provost's son with him disagree,", "Because Wallace did wear a dirk,", "He despised him like an ignorant stirk,", "Which with indignation he keenly felt,", "And told him it would become him better in his belt.", "", "Then Wallace's blood began to boil,", "Just like the serpent in its coil,", "Before it leaps upon its prey;", "And unto him he thus did say:", "'Proud saucy cur, come cease your prate,", "for no longer shall i wait,", "For to hear you insult me,", "At the High School in Dundee;", "For such insolence makes my heart to smart,", "And I'll plunge my dagger in you heart,'", "", "Then his heart's blood did quickly flow,", "And poor Wallace did not know where to go;", "And he stood by him until dead.", "Then far from him he quickly fled,", "Lamenting greatly the deed he had done,", "the murdering of the Provost's son.", "", "The scene shifts to where he was fishing on day,", "Where three English soldiers met him by the way,", "And they asked him fo give them some fish,", "And from them they would make a delicious dish,", "then Wallace gave them share of his fish,", "For to satisfy their wish;", "But they seemed dissatisfied with the share they got,", "So they were resolved to have all the lot.", "", "Then Wallace he thought it was time to look out,", "When they were resolved to have all his trout;", "So he swung his fishing-rod with great force round his head,", "And struck on of them a blow that killed him dead;", "So he instantly seized the fallen man's sword,", "And the other two fled without uttering a word.", "", "Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie,", "You were a warrior of great renown,", "And might have worn Scotland's crown;", "Had it not been for Monteith, the base traitor knave,", "That brought you to a premature grave;", "Yes! you were sold for English gold,", "And brought like a sheep from the fold,", "To die upon a shameful scaffold high,", "Amidst the derisive shouts of your enemies standing by.", "", "But you met your doom like a warrior bold,", "Bidding defiance to them that had you sold,", "And bared your neck for the headsman's stroke;", "And cried, 'Marion, dear, my heart is broke;", "My lovely dear I come to thee,", "Oh! I am longing thee to see!'", "But the headsman was as stolid as the rock,", "And the axe fell heavily on the block,", "And the scaffold did shake with the terrible shock,", "As the body of noble Wallace fell,", "Who had fought for Scotland so well." ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "The Crow Sat on the Willow", "author": "John Clare", "lines": [ "The crow sat on the willow tree", " A-lifting up his wings,", "And glossy was his coat to see,", " And loud the ploughman sings,", "\"I love my love because I know", " The milkmaid she loves me\";", "And hoarsely croaked the glossy crow", " Upon the willow tree.", "\"I love my love\" the ploughman sung,", " And all the fields with music rung.", "", "\"I love my love, a bonny lass,", " She keeps her pails so bright,", "And blythe she trips the dewy grass", " At morning and at night.", "A cotton dress her morning gown,", " Her face was rosy health:", "She traced the pastures up and down", " And nature was her wealth.\"", "He sung, and turned each furrow down,", "His sweetheart's love in cotton gown.", "", "\"My love is young and handsome", " As any in the town,", "She's worth a ploughman's ransom", " In the drab cotton gown.\"", "He sang and turned his furrow oer", " And urged his team along,", "While on the willow as before", " The old crow croaked his song:", "The ploughman sung his rustic lay", " And sung of Phoebe all the day.", "", "The crow he was in love no doubt", " And [so were] many things:", "The ploughman finished many a bout,", " And lustily he sings,", "\"My love she is a milking maid", " With red rosy cheek;", "Of cotton drab her gown was made,", " I loved her many a week.\"", "His milking maid the ploughman sung", "Till all the fields around him rung." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Mary Bateman", "author": "John Clare", "lines": [ "My love she wears a cotton plaid,", " A bonnet of the straw;", "Her cheeks are leaves of roses spread,", " Her lips are like the haw.", "In truth she is as sweet a maid", "As true love ever saw.", "", "Her curls are ever in my eyes,", " As nets by Cupid flung;", "Her voice will oft my sleep surprise,", " More sweet then ballad sung.", "O Mary Bateman's curling hair!", "I wake, and there is nothing there.", "", "I wake, and fall asleep again,", " The same delights in visions rise;", "There's nothing can appear more plain", " Than those rose cheeks and those bright eyes.", "I wake again, and all alone", "Sits Darkness on his ebon throne.", "", "All silent runs the silver Trent,", " The cobweb veils are all wet through,", "A silver bead's on every bent,", " On every leaf a bleb of dew.", "I sighed, the moon it shone so clear;", "Was Mary Bateman walking here?" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Secret Love", "author": "John Clare", "lines": [ "I hid my love when young till I", "Couldn't bear the buzzing of a fly;", "I hid my love to my despite", "Till I could not bear to look at light:", "I dare not gaze upon her face", "But left her memory in each place;", "Where eer I saw a wild flower lie", "I kissed and bade my love good bye.", "", "I met her in the greenest dells", "Where dewdrops pearl the wood blue bells", "The lost breeze kissed her bright blue eye,", "The bee kissed and went singing by,", "A sunbeam found a passage there,", "A gold chain round her neck so fair;", "As secret as the wild bee's song", "She lay there all the summer long.", "", "I hid my love in field and town", "Till een the breeze would knock me down,", "The bees seemed singing ballads oer,", "The fly's bass turned a lion's roar;", "And even silence found a tongue,", "To haunt me all the summer long;", "The riddle nature could not prove", "Was nothing else but secret love." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "The Statue and the Bust", "author": "Robert Browning", "lines": [ "There's a palace in Florence, the world knows well,", "And a statue watches it from the square,", "And this story of both do our townsmen tell.", "", "Ages ago, a lady there,", "At the farthest window facing the East", "Asked, \"Who rides by with the royal air?\"", "", "The bridesmaids' prattle around her ceased;", "She leaned forth, one on either hand;", "They saw how the blush of the bride increased--", "", "They felt by its beats her heart expand--", "As one at each ear and both in a breath", "Whispered, \"The Great-Duke Ferdinand.\"", "", "That self-same instant, underneath,", "The Duke rode past in his idle way,", "Empty and fine like a swordless sheath.", "", "Gay he rode, with a friend as gay,", "Till he threw his head back--\"Who is she?\"", "\"A bride the Riccardi brings home to-day.\"", "", "Hair in heaps lay heavily", "Over a pale brow spirit-pure--", "Carved like the heart of a coal-black tree,", "", "Crisped like a war-steed's encolure--", "And vainly sought to dissemble her eyes", "Of the blackest black our eyes endure.", "", "And lo, a blade for a knight's emprise", "Filled the fine empty sheath of a man--", "The Duke grew straightway brave and wise.", "", "He looked at her, as a lover can;", "She looked at him, as one who awakes:", "The past was a sleep, and her life began.", "", "Now, love so ordered for both their sakes,", "A feast was held that selfsame night", "In the pile which the mighty shadow makes.", "", "(For Via Larga is three-parts light,", "But the palace overshadows one,", "Because of a crime which may God requite!", "", "To Florence and God the wrong was done,", "Through the first republic's murder there", "By Cosimo and his cursed son.)", "", "The Duke (with the statue's face in the square)", "Turned in the midst of his multitude", "At the bright approach of the bridal pair.", "", "Face to face the lovers stood", "A single minute and no more,", "While the bridegroom bent as a man subdued--", "", "Bowed till his bonnet brushed the floor--", "For the Duke on the lady a kiss conferred,", "As the courtly custom was of yore.", "", "In a minute can lovers exchange a word?", "If a word did pass, which I do not think,", "Only one out of the thousand heard.", "", "That was the bridegroom. At day's brink", "He and his bride were alone at last", "In a bedchamber by a taper's blink.", "", "Calmly he said that her lot was cast,", "That the door she had passed was shut on her", "Till the final catafalk repassed.", "", "The world meanwhile, its noise and stir,", "Through a certain window facing the East,", "She could watch like a convent's chronicler.", "", "Since passing the door might lead to a feast", "And a feast might lead to so much beside,", "He, of many evils, chose the least.", "", "\"Freely I choose too,\" said the bride--", "\"Your window and its world suffice,\"", "Replied the tongue, while the heart replied--", "", "\"If I spend the night with that devil twice,", "May his window serve as my loop of hell", "Whence a damned soul looks on paradise!", "", "\"I fly to the Duke who loves me well,", "Sit by his side and laugh at sorrow!", "Ere I count another ave-bell,", "", "\"'Tis only the coat of a page to borrow,", "And tie my hair in a horse-boy's trim,", "And I save my soul--but not to-morrow\"--", "", "(She checked herself and her eye grew dim)", "\"My father tarries to bless my state:", "I must keep it one day more for him.", "", "\"Is one day more so long to wait?", "Moreover the Duke rides past, I know;", "We shall see each other, sure as fate.\"", "", "She turned on her side and slept. Just so!", "So we resolve on a thing and sleep:", "So did the lady, ages ago.", "", "That night the Duke said, \"Dear or cheap", "As the cost of this cup of bliss may prove", "To body or soul, I will drain it deep.\"", "", "And on the morrow, bold with love,", "He beckoned the bridegroom (close on call,", "As his duty bade, by the Duke's alcove)", "", "And smiled, \"'Twas a very funeral,", "Your lady will think, this feast of ours,", "A shame to efface, whate'er befall!", "", "\"What if we break from the Arno bowers,", "And try if Petraja, cool and green,", "Cure last night's fault with this morning's flowers?\"", "", "The bridegroom, not a thought to be seen", "On his steady brow and quiet mouth,", "Said, \"Too much favour for me so mean!", "", "\"But, alas! my lady leaves the South;", "Each wind that comes from the Apennine", "Is a menace to her tender youth:", "", "\"Nor a way exists, the wise opine,", "If she quits her palace twice this year,", "To avert the flower of life's decline.\"", "", "Quoth the Duke, \"A sage and a kindly fear.", "Moreover Petraja is cold this spring:", "Be our feast to-night as usual here!\"", "", "And then to himself--\"Which night shall bring", "Thy bride to her lover's embraces, fool--", "Or I am the fool, and thou art the king!", "", "\"Yet my passion must wait a night, nor cool--", "For to-night the Envoy arrives from France", "Whose heart I unlock with thyself my tool.", "", "\"I need thee still and might miss perchance.", "To-day is not wholly lost, beside,", "With its hope of my lady's countenance:", "", "\"For I ride--what should I do but ride?", "And passing her palace, if I list,", "May glance at its window-well betide!\"", "", "So said, so done: nor the lady missed", "One ray that broke from the ardent brow,", "Nor a curl of the lips where the spirit kissed.", "", "Be sure that each renewed the vow,", "No morrow's sun should arise and set", "And leave them then as it left them now.", "", "But next day passed, and next day yet,", "With still fresh cause to wait one day more", "Ere each leaped over the parapet.", "", "And still, as love's brief morning wore,", "With a gentle start, half smile, half sigh,", "They found love not as it seemed before.", "", "They thought it would work infallibly,", "But not in despite of heaven and earth:", "The rose would blow when the storm passed by.", "", "Meantime they could profit in winter's dearth", "By store of fruits that supplant the rose:", "The world and its ways have a certain worth:", "", "And to press a point while these oppose", "Were simple policy; better wait:", "We lose no friends and we gain no foes.", "", "Meantime, worse fates than a lover's fate", "Who daily may ride and pass and look", "Where his lady watches behind the grate!", "", "And she--she watched the square like a book", "Holding one picture and only one,", "Which daily to find she undertook:", "", "When the picture was reached the book was done,", "And she turned from the picture at night to scheme", "Of tearing it out for herself next sun.", "", "So weeks grew months, years; gleam by gleam", "The glory dropped from their youth and love,", "And both perceived they had dreamed a dream;", "", "Which hovered as dreams do, still above:", "But who can take a dream for a truth?", "Oh, hide our eyes from the next remove!", "", "One day as the lady saw her youth", "Depart, and the silver thread that streaked", "Her hair, and, worn by the serpent's tooth,", "", "The brow so puckered, the chin so peaked,", "And wondered who the woman was,", "Hollow-eyed and haggard-cheeked,", "", "Fronting her silent in the glass--", "\"Summon here,\" she suddenly said,", "\"Before the rest of my old self pass,", "", "\"Him, the Carver, a hand to aid,", "Who fashions the clay no love will change", "And fixes a beauty never to fade.", "", "\"Let Robbia's craft so apt and strange", "Arrest the remains of young and fair,", "And rivet them while the seasons range.", "", "\"Make me a face on the window there,", "Waiting as ever, mute the while,", "My love to pass below in the square!", "", "\"And let me think that it may beguile", "Dreary days which the dead must spend", "Down in their darkness under the aisle,", "", "\"To say, 'What matters it at the end?", "'I did no more while my heart was warm", "Than does that image, my pale-faced friend.'", "", "\"Where is the use of the lip's red charm,", "The heaven of hair, the pride of the brow,", "And the blood that blues the inside arm--", "", "\"Unless we turn, as the soul knows how,", "The earthly gift to an end divine?", "A lady of clay is as good, I trow.\"", "", "But long ere Robbia's cornice, fine,", "With flowers and fruits which leaves enlace,", "Was set where now is the empty shrine--", "", "(And, leaning out of a bright blue space,", "As a ghost might lean from a chink of sky,", "The passionate pale lady's face--", "", "Eyeing ever, with earnest eye", "And quick-turned neck at its breathless stretch,", "Some one who ever is passing by)", "", "The Duke had sighed like the simplest wretch", "In Florence, \"Youth--my dream escapes!", "Will its record stay?\" And he bade them fetch", "", "Some subtle moulder of brazen shapes--", "\"Can the soul, the will, die out of a man", "Ere his body find the grave that gapes?", "", "\"John of Douay shall effect my plan,", "Set me on horseback here aloft,", "Alive, as the crafty sculptor can,", "", "\"In the very square I have crossed so oft:", "That men may admire, when future suns", "Shall touch the eyes to a purpose soft,", "", "\"While the mouth and the brow stay brave in bronze--", "Admire and say, 'When he was alive", "How he would take his pleasure once!'", "", "\"And it shall go hard but I contrive", "To listen the while, and laugh in my tomb", "At idleness which aspires to strive.\"", "", "So! While these wait the trump of doom,", "How do their spirits pass, I wonder,", "Nights and days in the narrow room?", "", "Still, I suppose, they sit and ponder", "What a gift life was, ages ago,", "Six steps out of the chapel yonder.", "", "Only they see not God, I know,", "Nor all that chivalry of his,", "The soldier-saints who, row on row,", "", "Burn upward each to his point of bliss--", "Since, the end of life being manifest,", "He had burned his way thro' the world to this.", "", "I hear you reproach, \"But delay was best,", "For their end was a crime.\" Oh, a crime will do", "As well, I reply, to serve for a test,", "", "As a virtue golden through and through,", "Sufficient to vindicate itself", "And prove its worth at a moment's view!", "", "Must a game be played for the sake of pelf", "Where a button goes, 'twere an epigram", "To offer the stamp of the very Guelph.", "", "The true has no value beyond the sham:", "As well the counter as coin, I submit,", "When your table's a hat, and your prize a dram.", "", "Stake your counter as boldly every whit,", "Venture as warily, use the same skill,", "Do your best, whether winning or losing it,", "", "If you choose to play!--is my principle.", "Let a man contend to the uttermost", "For his life's set prize, be it what it will!", "", "The counter our lovers staked was lost", "As surely as if it were lawful coin:", "And the sin I impute to each frustrate ghost", "", "Is--the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin,", "Though the end in sight was a vice, I say.", "You of the virtue (we issue join)", "How strive you? De te, fabula!" ], "linecount": "250" }, { "title": "Time's Revenges", "author": "Robert Browning", "lines": [ "I've a Friend, over the sea;", "I like him, but he loves me.", "It all grew out of the books I write;", "They find such favour in his sight", "That he slaughters you with savage looks", "Because you don't admire my books.", "He does himself though,--and if some vein", "Were to snap tonight in this heavy brain,", "To-morrow month, if I lived to try,", "Round should I just turn quietly,", "Or out of the bedclothes stretch my hand", "Till I found him, come from his foreign land", "To be my nurse in this poor place,", "And make my broth and wash my face", "And light my fire and, all the while,", "Bear with his old good-humoured smile", "That I told him \"Better have kept away", "Than come and kill me, night and day,", "With, worse than fever throbs and shoots,", "The creaking of his clumsy boots.\"", "I am as sure that this he would do,", "As that Saint Paul's is striking two.", "And I think I rather... woe is me!", "--Yes, rather would see him than not see,", "If lifting a hand could seat him there", "Before me in the empty chair", "To-night, when my head aches indeed,", "And I can neither think nor read", "Nor make these purple fingers hold", "The pen; this garret's freezing cold!", "", "And I've a Lady--there he wakes,", "The laughing fiend and prince of snakes", "Within me, at her name, to pray", "Fate send some creature in the way", "Of my love for her, to be down-torn,", "Upthrust and outward-borne,", "So I might prove myself that sea", "Of passion which I needs must be!", "Call my thoughts false and my fancies quaint", "And my style infirm and its figures faint,", "All the critics say, and more blame yet,", "And not one angry word you get.", "But, please you, wonder I would put", "My cheek beneath that lady's foot", "Rather than trample under mine", "That laurels of the Florentine,", "And you shall see how the devil spends", "A fire God gave for other ends!", "I tell you, I stride up and down", "This garret, crowned with love's best crown,", "And feasted with love's perfect feast,", "To think I kill for her, at least,", "Body and soul and peace and fame,", "Alike youth's end and manhood's aim,", "--So is my spirit, as flesh with sin,", "Filled full, eaten out and in", "With the face of her, the eyes of her,", "The lips, the little chin, the stir", "Of shadow round her mouth; and she", "--I'll tell you,--calmly would decree", "That I should roast at a slow fire,", "", "If that would compass her desire", "And make her one whom they invite", "To the famous ball to-morrow night.", "", "There may be heaven; there must be hell;", "Meantime, there is our earth here--well!" ], "linecount": "66" }, { "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 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 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": "Andrea Del Sarto (Called \"The Faultless Painter\")", "author": "Robert Browning", "lines": [ "But do not let us quarrel any more,", "No, my Lucrezia! bear with me for once:", "Sit down and all shall happen as you wish.", "You turn your face, but does it bring your heart?", "I'll work then for your friend's friend, never fear.", "Treat his own subject after his own way,", "Fix his own time, accept too his own price,", "And shut the money into this small hand", "When next it takes mine. Will it? tenderly?", "Oh, I'll content him,--but to-morrow, Love!", "I often am much wearier than you think,", "This evening more than usual: and it seems", "As if--forgive now--should you let me sit", "Here by the window, with your hand in mine,", "And look a half-hour forth on Fiesole,", "Both of one mind, as married people use,", "Quietly, quietly the evening through,", "I might get up to-morrow to my work", "Cheerful and fresh as ever. Let us try.", "To-morrow, how you shall be glad for this!", "Your soft hand is a woman of itself,", "And mine the man's bared breast she curls inside.", "Don't count the time lost, neither; you must serve", "For each of the five pictures we require:", "It saves a model. So! keep looking so--", "My serpentining beauty, rounds on rounds!", "--How could you ever prick those perfect ears,", "Even to put the pearl there! oh, so sweet--", "My face, my moon, my everybody's moon.", "Which everybody looks on and calls his,", "And, I suppose, is looked on by in turn,", "While she looks--no one's: very dear, no less.", "You smile? why, there's my picture ready made,", "There's what we painters call our harmony!", "A common grayness silvers everything,--", "All in a twilight, you and I alike", "--You, at the point of your first pride in me", "(That's gone, you know)--but I, at every point;", "My youth, my hope, my art, being all toned down", "To yonder sober pleasant Fiesole.", "There's the bell clinking from the chapel-top;", "That length of convent-wall across the way", "Holds the trees safer, huddled more inside;", "The last monk leaves the garden; days decrease,", "And autumn grows, autumn in everything.", "Eh? the whole seems to fall into a shape,", "As if I saw alike my work and self", "And all that I was born to be and do,", "A twilight-piece. Love, we are in God's hand.", "How strange now, looks the life he makes us lead;", "So free we seem, so fettered fast we are!", "I feel he laid the fetter: let it lie!", "This chamber for example--turn your head--", "All that's behind us! You don't understand", "Nor care to understand about my art,", "But you can hear at least when people speak:", "And that cartoon, the second from the door", "--It is the thing, Love! so such things should be--", "Behold Madonna!--I am bold to say.", "I can do with my pencil what I know,", "What I see, what at bottom of my heart", "I wish for, if I ever wish so deep--", "Do easily, too--when I say, perfectly,", "I do not boast, perhaps: yourself are judge,", "Who listened to the Legate's talk last week;", "And just as much they used to say in France.", "At any rate 'tis easy, all of it!", "No sketches first, no studies, that's long past:", "I do what many dream of, all their lives,", "--Dream? strive to do, and agonize to do,", "And fail in doing. I could count twenty such", "On twice your fingers, and not leave this town,", "Who strive--you don't know how the others strive", "To paint a little thing like that you smeared", "Carelessly passing with your robes afloat,--", "Yet do much less, so much less. Someone says,", "(I know his name, no matter)--so much less!", "Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.", "There burns a truer light of God in them,", "In their vexed beating stuffed and stopped-up brain,", "Heart, or whate'er else, than goes on to prompt", "This low-pulsed forthright craftsman's hand of mine.", "Their works drop groundward, but themselves, I know,", "Reach many a time a heaven that's shut to me,", "Enter and take their place there sure enough,", "Tho' they come back and cannot tell the world.", "My works are nearer heaven, but I sit here.", "The sudden blood of these men! at a word--", "Praise them, it boils, or blame them, it boils too.", "I, painting from myself and to myself,", "Know what I do, am unmoved by men's blame", "Or their praise either. Somebody remarks", "Morello's outline there is wrongly traced,", "His hue mistaken; what of that? or else,", "Rightly traced and well ordered; what of that?", "Speak as they please, what does the mountain care?", "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,", "Or what's a heaven for? All is silver-gray,", "Placid and perfect with my art: the worse!", "I know both what I want and what might gain,", "And yet how profitless to know, to sigh", "\"Had I been two, another and myself,", "Our head would have o'erlooked the world!\" No doubt.", "", "Yonder's a work now, of that famous youth", "The Urbinate who died five years ago.", "('Tis copied, George Vasari sent it me.)", "Well, I can fancy how he did it all,", "Pouring his soul, with kings and popes to see,", "Reaching, that heaven might so replenish him,", "Above and thro' his art--for it gives way;", "That arm is wrongly put--and there again--", "A fault to pardon in the drawing's lines,", "Its body, so to speak: its soul is right,", "He means right--that, a child may understand.", "Still, what an arm! and I could alter it:", "But all the play, the insight and the stretch--", "Out of me, out of me! And wherefore out?", "Had you enjoined them on me, given me soul,", "We might have risen to Rafael, I and you!", "Nay, Love, you did give all I asked, I think--", "More than I merit, yes, by many times.", "But had you--oh, with the same perfect brow,", "And perfect eyes, and more than perfect mouth,", "And the low voice my soul hears, as a bird", "The fowler's pipe, and follows to the snare--", "Had you, with these the same, but brought a mind!", "Some women do so. Had the mouth there urged", "\"God and the glory! never care for gain.", "", "The present by the future, what is that?", "Live for fame, side by side with Agnolo!", "Rafael is waiting: up to God, all three!\"", "I might have done it for you. So it seems:", "Perhaps not. All is as God over-rules.", "Beside, incentives come from the soul's self;", "The rest avail not. Why do I need you?", "What wife had Rafael, or has Agnolo?", "In this world, who can do a thing, will not;", "And who would do it, cannot, I perceive:", "Yet the will's somewhat--somewhat, too, the power--", "And thus we half-men struggle. At the end,", "God, I conclude, compensates, punishes.", "'Tis safer for me, if the award be strict,", "That I am something underrated here,", "Poor this long while, despised, to speak the truth.", "I dared not, do you know, leave home all day,", "For fear of chancing on the Paris lords.", "The best is when they pass and look aside;", "But they speak sometimes; I must bear it all.", "Well may they speak. That Francis, that first time,", "And that long festal year at Fontainebleau!", "I surely then could sometimes leave the ground,", "Put on the glory, Rafael's daily wear,", "In that humane great monarch's golden look,--", "One finger in his beard or twisted curl", "Over his mouth's good mark that made the smile.", "One arm, about my shoulder, round my neck,", "The jingle of his gold chain in my ear,", "I painting proudly with his breath on me,", "All his court round him, seeing with his eyes.", "Such frank French eyes, and such a fire of souls", "Profuse, my hand kept plying by those hearts,--", "And, best of all, this, this, this face beyond,", "This in the background, waiting on my work,", "To crown the issue with a last reward!", "A good tune, was it not, my kingly days?", "And had you not grown restless ... but I know--", "'Tis done and past; 'twas right, my instinct said;", "Too live the life grew, golden and not gray:", "And I'm the weak-eyed bat no sun should tempt", "Out of the grange whose four walls make his world,", "How could it end in any other way?", "You called me, and I came home to your heart,", "The triumph was--to reach and stay there; since", "I reached it ere the triumph, what is lost?", "Let my hands frame your face in your hair's gold,", "You beautiful Lucrezia that are mine!", "\"Rafael did this, Andrea painted that;", "The Roman's is the better when you pray,", "But still the other's Virgin was his wife--\"", "Men will excuse me. I am glad to judge", "Both pictures in your presence; clearer grows", "My better fortune, I resolve to think.", "For, do you know, Lucrezia, as God lives,", "Said one day Agnolo, his very self,", "To Rafael... I have known it all these years...", "(When the young man was flaming out his thoughts", "Upon a palace-wall for Rome to see,", "Too lifted up in heart because of it)", "\"Friend, there's a certain sorry little scrub", "Goes up and down our Florence, none cares how,", "Who, were he set to plan and execute", "As you are, pricked on by your popes and kings,", "Would bring the sweat into that brow of yours!\"", "To Rafael's!--And indeed the arm is wrong.", "I hardly dare ... yet, only you to see,", "Give the chalk here--quick, thus the line should go!", "Ay, but the soul! he's Rafael! rub it out!", "Still, all I care for, if he spoke the truth,", "(What he? why, who but Michel Agnolo?", "Do you forget already words like those?)", "If really there was such a chance so lost,--", "Is, whether you're--not grateful--but more pleased.", "Well, let me think so. And you smile indeed!", "", "This hour has been an hour! Another smile?", "If you would sit thus by me every night", "I should work better, do you comprehend?", "I mean that I should earn more, give you more.", "See, it is settled dusk now; there's a star;", "Morello's gone, the watch-lights show the wall,", "The cue-owls speak the name we call them by.", "Come from the window, Love,--come in, at last,", "Inside the melancholy little house", "We built to be so gay with. God is just.", "King Francis may forgive me: oft at nights", "When I look up from painting, eyes tired out,", "The walls become illumined, brick from brick", "Distinct, instead of mortar, fierce, bright gold,", "That gold of his I did cement them with!", "Let us but love each other. Must you go?", "That Cousin here again? he waits outside?", "Must see you--you, and not with me? Those loans?", "More gaming debts to pay? you smiled for that?", "Well, let smiles buy me! have you more to spend?", "While hand and eye and something of a heart", "Are left me, work's my ware, and what's it worth?", "I'll pay my fancy. Only let me sit", "The gray remainder of the evening out,", "Idle, you call it, and muse perfectly", "How I could paint, were I but back in France,", "One picture, just one more--the Virgin's face,", "Not yours this time! I want you at my side", "To hear them--that is, Michel Agnolo--", "Judge all I do and tell you of its worth.", "Will you? To-morrow, satisfy your friend.", "I take the subjects for his corridor,", "Finish the portrait out of hand--there, there,", "And throw him in another thing or two", "If he demurs; the whole should prove enough", "To pay for this same Cousin's freak. Beside,", "What's better and what's all I care about,", "Get you the thirteen scudi for the ruff!", "Love, does that please you? Ah, but what does he,", "The Cousin! what does he to please you more?", "", "I am grown peaceful as old age to-night.", "I regret little, I would change still less.", "Since there my past life lies, why alter it?", "The very wrong to Francis!--it is true", "I took his coin, was tempted and complied,", "And built this house and sinned, and all is said", "My father and my mother died of want.", "Well, had I riches of my own? you see", "How one gets rich! Let each one bear his lot.", "They were born poor, lived poor, and poor they died:", "And I have laboured somewhat in my time", "And not been paid profusely. Some good son", "Paint my two hundred pictures--let him try!", "No doubt, there's something strikes a balance. Yes,", "You love me quite enough, it seems to-night.", "This must suffice me here. What would one have?", "In heaven, perhaps, new chances, one more chance--", "Four great walls in the New Jerusalem,", "Meted on each side by the angel's reed,", "For Leonard, Rafael, Agnolo, and me", "To cover--the three first without a wife,", "While I have mine! So--still they overcome", "Because there's still Lucrezia,--as I choose.", "", " Again the Cousin's whistle! Go, my Love." ], "linecount": "267" }, { "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 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": "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": "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": "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": "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: A Tale", "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": "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.", "[_Exeunt_ SECRETARY _and_ VINCENZO.]", "", "_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": "3932" }, { "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": "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: A Drama", "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": "Song", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Fierce roars the midnight storm", "O'er the wild mountain,", "Dark clouds the night deform,", "Swift rolls the fountain--", "", "See! o'er yon rocky height,", "Dim mists are flying--", "See by the moon's pale light,", "Poor Laura's dying!", "", "Shame and remorse shall howl,", "By her false pillow--", "Fiercer than storms that roll,", "O'er the white billow;", "", "No hand her eyes to close,", "When life is flying,", "But she will find repose,", "For Laura's dying!", "", "Then will I seek my love,", "Then will I cheer her,", "Then my esteem will prove,", "When no friend is near her.", "", "On her grave I will lie,", "When life is parted,", "On her grave I will die,", "For the false hearted." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "To the Queen of My Heart", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Shall we roam, my love,", "To the twilight grove,", "When the moon is rising bright;", "Oh, I'll whisper there,", "In the cool night-air,", "What I dare not in broad daylight!", "", "I'll tell thee a part", "Of the thoughts that start", "To being when thou art nigh;", "And thy beauty, more bright", "Than the stars' soft light,", "Shall seem as a weft from the sky.", "", "When the pale moonbeam", "On tower and stream", "Sheds a flood of silver sheen,", "How I love to gaze", "As the cold ray strays", "O'er thy face, my heart's throned queen!", "", "Wilt thou roam with me", "To the restless sea,", "And linger upon the steep,", "And list to the flow", "Of the waves below", "How they toss and roar and leap?", "", "Those boiling waves,", "And the storm that raves", "At night o'er their foaming crest,", "Resemble the strife", "That, from earliest life,", "The passions have waged in my breast.", "", "Oh, come then, and rove", "To the sea or the grove,", "When the moon is rising bright;", "And I'll whisper there,", "In the cool night-air,", "What I dare not in broad daylight." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Summer,", "author": "Alexander Pope", "lines": [ "THE SECOND PASTORAL, OR ALEXIS.", "", "TO DR GARTH.", "", "A shepherd's boy (he seeks no better name)", "Led forth his flocks along the silver Thame,", "Where dancing sunbeams on the waters play'd,", "And verdant alders form'd a quivering shade.", "Soft as he mourn'd, the streams forgot to flow,", "The flocks around a dumb compassion show:", "The Naïads wept in every watery bower,", "And Jove consented in a silent shower.", "", "Accept, O Garth the Muse's early lays,", "That adds this wreath of ivy to thy bays;", "Hear what from love unpractised hearts endure:", "From love, the sole disease thou canst not cure.", "", "Ye shady beeches, and ye cooling streams,", "Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's beams,", "To you I mourn, nor to the deaf I sing,", "'The woods shall answer, and their echo ring.'", "The hills and rocks attend my doleful lay;", "Why art thou prouder and more hard than they?", "The bleating sheep with my complaints agree,", "They parch'd with heat, and I inflamed by thee.", "The sultry Sirius burns the thirsty plains,", "While in thy heart eternal winter reigns.", "", "Where stray ye, Muses, in what lawn or grove,", "While your Alexis pines in hopeless love?", "In those fair fields where sacred Isis glides,", "Or else where Cam his winding vales divides?", "As in the crystal spring I view my face,", "Fresh rising blushes paint the watery glass;", "But since those graces please thy eyes no more,", "I shun the fountains which I sought before.", "Once I was skill'd in every herb that grew,", "And every plant that drinks the morning dew;", "Ah, wretched shepherd, what avails thy art,", "To cure thy lambs, but not to heal thy heart!", "Let other swains attend the rural care,", "Feed fairer flocks, or richer fleeces shear:", "But nigh yon mountain let me tune my lays,", "Embrace my love, and bind my brows with bays.", "That flute is mine which Colin's tuneful breath", "Inspired when living, and bequeath'd in death;", "He said, 'Alexis, take this pipe--the same", "That taught the groves my Rosalinda's name:'", "But now the reeds shall hang on yonder tree,", "For ever silent, since despised by thee.", "Oh! were I made by some transforming power", "The captive bird that sings within thy bower!", "Then might my voice thy listening ears employ,", "And I those kisses he receives, enjoy.", "", "And yet my numbers please the rural throng,", "Rough Satyrs dance, and Pan applauds the song:", "The Nymphs, forsaking every cave and spring,", "Their early fruit, and milk-white turtles bring;", "Each amorous nymph prefers her gifts in vain.", "On you their gifts are all bestow'd again.", "For you the swains the fairest flowers design,", "And in one garland all their beauties join;", "Accept the wreath which you deserve alone,", "In whom all beauties are comprised in one.", "", "See what delights in sylvan scenes appear!", "Descending gods have found Elysium here.", "In woods bright Venus with Adonis stray'd,", "And chaste Diana haunts the forest shade.", "Come, lovely nymph, and bless the silent hours,", "When swains from shearing seek their nightly bowers,", "When weary reapers quit the sultry field,", "And crown'd with corn their thanks to Ceres yield;", "This harmless grove no lurking viper hides,", "But in my breast the serpent love abides.", "Here bees from blossoms sip the rosy dew,", "But your Alexis knows no sweets but you.", "Oh, deign to visit our forsaken seats,", "The mossy fountains, and the green retreats!", "Where'er you walk, cool gales shall fan the glade,", "Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a shade:", "Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise,", "And all things flourish where you turn your eyes.", "Oh, how I long with you to pass my days,", "Invoke the Muses, and resound your praise!", "Your praise the birds shall chant in every grove,", "And winds shall waft it to the Powers above.", "But would you sing, and rival Orpheus' strain,", "The wondering forests soon should dance again,", "The moving mountains hear the powerful call,", "And headlong streams hang listening in their fall!", "", "But see, the shepherds shun the noonday heat,", "The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat,", "To closer shades the panting flocks remove;", "Ye gods! and is there no relief for love?", "But soon the sun with milder rays descends", "To the cool ocean, where his journey ends:", "On me Love's fiercer flames for ever prey,", "By night he scorches, as he burns by day." ], "linecount": "94" }, { "title": "Eloisa to Abelard", "author": "Alexander Pope", "lines": [ "In these deep solitudes and awful cells,", "Where heavenly-pensive Contemplation dwells,", "And ever-musing Melancholy reigns,", "What means this tumult in a vestal's veins?", "Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat?", "Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat?", "Yet, yet I love!--From Abelard it came,", "And Eloisa yet must kiss the name.", "", "Dear fatal name! rest ever unreveal'd,", "Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd:", "Hide it, my heart, within that close disguise", "Where, mix'd with God's, his loved idea lies:", "Oh write it not, my hand!--the name appears", "Already written--wash it out, my tears!", "In vain lost Eloisa weeps and prays,", "Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys.", "", "Relentless walls! whose darksome round contains", "Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains:", "Ye rugged rocks! which holy knees have worn;", "Ye grots and caverns, shagg'd with horrid thorn!", "Shrines! where their vigils pale-eyed virgins keep,", "And pitying saints, whose statues learn to weep!", "Though cold like you, unmoved and silent grown,", "I have not yet forgot myself to stone.", "All is not Heaven's while Abelard has part,", "Still rebel nature holds out half my heart;", "Nor prayers nor fasts its stubborn pulse restrain,", "Nor tears for ages taught to flow in vain.", "", "Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose,", "That well-known name awakens all my woes.", "Oh, name for ever sad! for ever dear!", "Still breathed in sighs, still usher'd with a tear.", "I tremble too, where'er my own I find,", "Some dire misfortune follows close behind.", "Line after line my gushing eyes o'erflow,", "Led through a sad variety of woe;", "Now warm in love, now withering in my bloom,", "Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!", "There stern religion quench'd the unwilling flame,", "There died the best of passions, Love and Fame.", "", "Yet write, oh! write me all, that I may join", "Griefs to thy griefs, and echo sighs to thine.", "Nor foes nor fortune take this power away;", "And is my Abelard less kind than they?", "Tears still are mine, and those I need not spare,", "Love but demands what else were shed in prayer;", "No happier task these faded eyes pursue;", "To read and weep is all they now can do.", "", "Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;", "Ah, more than share it, give me all thy grief!", "Heaven first taught letters for some wretch's aid,", "Some banish'd lover, or some captive maid;", "They live, they speak, they breathe what love inspires,", "Warm from the soul, and faithful to its fires;", "The virgin's wish without her fears impart,", "Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart,", "Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,", "And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole.", "", "Thou know'st how guiltless first I met thy flame,", "When Love approach'd me under Friendship's name;", "My fancy form'd thee of angelic kind,", "Some emanation of the all-beauteous Mind.", "Those smiling eyes, attempering every ray,", "Shone sweetly lambent with celestial day.", "Guiltless I gazed; Heaven listen'd while you sung;", "And truths divine came mended from that tongue.", "From lips like those, what precept fail'd to move?", "Too soon they taught me 'twas no sin to love:", "Back through the paths of pleasing sense I ran,", "Nor wish'd an angel whom I loved a man.", "Dim and remote the joys of saints I see;", "Nor envy them that heaven I lose for thee.", "", "How oft, when press'd to marriage, have I said,", "Curse on all laws but those which Love has made!", "Love, free as air, at sight of human ties,", "Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.", "Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame,", "August her deed, and sacred be her fame;", "Before true passion all those views remove;", "Fame, wealth, and honour! what are you to Love?", "The jealous god, when we profane his fires,", "Those restless passions in revenge inspires,", "And bids them make mistaken mortals groan,", "Who seek in love for aught but love alone.", "Should at my feet the world's great master fall,", "Himself, his throne, his world, I'd scorn them all:", "Not Cæsar's empress would I deign to prove;", "No, make me mistress to the man I love;", "If there be yet another name more free,", "More fond than mistress, make me that to thee!", "Oh, happy state! when souls each other draw,", "When love is liberty, and nature law:", "All then is full, possessing and possess'd,", "No craving void left aching in the breast:", "Even thought meets thought, ere from the lips it part,", "And each warm wish springs mutual from the heart.", "This, sure, is bliss (if bliss on earth there be)", "And once the lot of Abelard and me.", "", "Alas, how changed! what sudden horrors rise!", "A naked lover bound and bleeding lies!", "Where, where was Eloise? her voice, her hand,", "Her poniard, had opposed the dire command.", "Barbarian, stay! that bloody stroke restrain;", "The crime was common, common be the pain.", "I can no more; by shame, by rage suppress'd,", "Let tears and burning blushes speak the rest.", "", "Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day,", "When victims at yon altar's foot we lay?", "Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell,", "When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell?", "As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil,", "The shrines all trembled, and the lamps grew pale:", "Heaven scarce believed the conquest it survey'd,", "And saints with wonder heard the vows I made.", "Yet then, to those dread altars as I drew,", "Not on the cross my eyes were fix'd, but you:", "Not grace, or zeal, love only was my call,", "And if I lose thy love, I lose my all.", "Come! with thy looks, thy words, relieve my woe;", "Those still at least are left thee to bestow.", "Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie,", "Still drink delicious poison from thy eye,", "Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be press'd;", "Give all thou canst--and let me dream the rest.", "Ah, no! instruct me other joys to prize,", "With other beauties charm my partial eyes,", "Full in my view set all the bright abode,", "And make my soul quit Abelard for God.", "", "Ah, think at least thy flock deserves thy care,", "Plants of thy hand, and children of thy prayer.", "From the false world in early youth they fled,", "By thee to mountains, wilds, and deserts led.", "You raised these hallow'd walls; the desert smiled,", "And Paradise was open'd in the wild.", "No weeping orphan saw his father's stores", "Our shrines irradiate, or emblaze the floors;", "No silver saints, by dying misers given,", "Here bribed the rage of ill-requited Heaven:", "But such plain roofs as Piety could raise,", "And only vocal with the Maker's praise.", "In these lone walls, (their day's eternal bound)", "These moss-grown domes with spiry turrets crown'd,", "Where awful arches make a noonday night,", "And the dim windows shed a solemn light;", "Thy eyes diffused a reconciling ray,", "And gleams of glory brighten'd all the day.", "But now no face divine contentment wears,", "'Tis all blank sadness, or continual tears.", "See how the force of others' prayers I try,", "(Oh pious fraud of amorous charity!)", "But why should I on others' prayers depend?", "Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend!", "Ah, let thy handmaid, sister, daughter move,", "And all those tender names in one--thy love!", "The darksome pines that, o'er yon rocks reclined,", "Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind,", "The wandering streams that shine between the hills,", "The grots that echo to the tinkling rills,", "The dying gales that pant upon the trees,", "The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze;", "No more these scenes my meditation aid,", "Or lull to rest the visionary maid.", "But o'er the twilight groves and dusky caves,", "Long-sounding aisles, and intermingled graves,", "Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws", "A death-like silence, and a dread repose:", "Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene,", "Shades every flower, and darkens every green,", "Deepens the murmur of the falling floods,", "And breathes a browner horror on the woods.", "", "Yet here for ever, ever must I stay;", "Sad proof how well a lover can obey!", "Death, only death, can break the lasting chain;", "And here, even then, shall my cold dust remain;", "Here all its frailties, all its flames resign,", "And wait till 'tis no sin to mix with thine.", "", "Ah, wretch! believed the spouse of God in vain,", "Confess'd within the slave of love and man.", "Assist me, Heaven! but whence arose that prayer?", "Sprung it from piety, or from despair?", "Even here, where frozen chastity retires,", "Love finds an altar for forbidden fires.", "I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought;", "I mourn the lover, not lament the fault;", "I view my crime, but kindle at the view,", "Repent old pleasures, and solicit new;", "Now turn'd to Heaven, I weep my past offence,", "Now think of thee, and curse my innocence.", "Of all affliction taught a lover yet,", "'Tis sure the hardest science to forget!", "How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense,", "And love the offender, yet detest the offence?", "How the dear object from the crime remove,", "Or how distinguish penitence from love?", "Unequal task! a passion to resign,", "For hearts so touch'd, so pierced, so lost as mine.", "Ere such a soul regains its peaceful state,", "How often must it love, how often hate!", "How often hope, despair, resent, regret,", "Conceal, disdain,--do all things but forget!", "But let Heaven seize it, all at once 'tis fired;", "Not touch'd, but rapt; not waken'd, but inspired!", "Oh come! oh teach me nature to subdue,", "Renounce my love, my life, myself--and you.", "Fill my fond heart with God alone, for He", "Alone can rival, can succeed to thee.", "", "How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!", "The world forgetting, by the world forgot:", "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!", "Each prayer accepted, and each wish resign'd;", "Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;", "'Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;'", "Desires composed, affections ever even;", "Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to heaven.", "Grace shines around her with serenest beams,", "And whispering angels prompt her golden dreams.", "For her the unfading rose of Eden blooms,", "And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes;", "For her the spouse prepares the bridal ring,", "For her white virgins hymeneals sing,", "To sounds of heavenly harps she dies away,", "And melts in visions of eternal day.", "", "Far other dreams my erring soul employ,", "Far other raptures, of unholy joy:", "When at the close of each sad, sorrowing day,", "Fancy restores what vengeance snatch'd away,", "Then conscience sleeps, and leaving nature free,", "All my loose soul unbounded springs to thee.", "O curst, dear horrors of all-conscious night!", "How glowing guilt exalts the keen delight!", "Provoking demons all restraint remove,", "And stir within me every source of love.", "I hear thee, view thee, gaze o'er all thy charms,", "And round thy phantom glue my clasping arms.", "I wake:--no more I hear, no more I view,", "The phantom flies me, as unkind as you.", "I call aloud; it hears not what I say:", "I stretch my empty arms; it glides away.", "To dream once more I close my willing eyes;", "Ye soft illusions, dear deceits, arise!", "Alas, no more! methinks we wandering go", "Through dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe,", "Where round some mouldering tower pale ivy creeps,", "And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.", "Sudden you mount, you beckon from the skies;", "Clouds interpose, waves roar, and winds arise.", "I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find,", "And wake to all the griefs I left behind.", "", "For thee the Fates, severely kind, ordain", "A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain;", "Thy life a long dead calm of fix'd repose;", "No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows.", "Still as the sea, ere winds were taught to blow,", "Or moving spirit bade the waters flow;", "Soft as the slumbers of a saint forgiven,", "And mild as opening gleams of promised heaven.", "", "Come, Abelard! for what hast thou to dread?", "The torch of Venus burns not for the dead.", "Nature stands check'd; Religion disapproves;", "Even thou art cold--yet Eloisa loves.", "Ah hopeless, lasting flames! like those that burn", "To light the dead, and warm the unfruitful urn.", "", "What scenes appear where'er I turn my view?", "The dear ideas, where I fly, pursue,", "Rise in the grove, before the altar rise,", "Stain all my soul, and wanton in my eyes.", "I waste the matin lamp in sighs for thee,", "Thy image steals between my God and me,", "Thy voice I seem in every hymn to hear,", "With every bead I drop too soft a tear.", "When from the censer clouds of fragrance roll,", "And swelling organs lift the rising soul,", "One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight,", "Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight:", "In seas of flame my plunging soul is drown'd,", "While altars blaze, and angels tremble round.", "", "While prostrate here in humble grief I lie,", "Kind, virtuous drops just gathering in my eye,", "While praying, trembling, in the dust I roll,", "And dawning grace is opening on my soul:", "Come, if thou dar'st, all charming as thou art!", "Oppose thyself to heaven; dispute my heart;", "Come, with one glance of those deluding eyes", "Blot out each bright idea of the skies;", "Take back that grace, those sorrows, and those tears;", "Take back my fruitless penitence and prayers;", "Snatch me, just mounting, from the blest abode;", "Assist the fiends, and tear me from my God!", "", "No, fly me, fly me, far as pole from pole;", "Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll!", "Ah, come not, write not, think not once of me,", "Nor share one pang of all I felt for thee!", "Thy oaths I quit, thy memory resign;", "Forget, renounce me, hate whate'er was mine.", "Fair eyes, and tempting looks (which yet I view)", "Long loved, adored ideas, all adieu!", "O Grace serene! O Virtue heavenly fair!", "Divine oblivion of low-thoughted care!", "Fresh blooming Hope, gay daughter of the sky!", "And Faith, our early immortality!", "Enter, each mild, each amicable guest;", "Receive, and wrap me in eternal rest!", "", "See in her cell sad Eloisa spread,", "Propp'd on some tomb, a neighbour of the dead.", "In each low wind methinks a spirit calls,", "And more than echoes talk along the walls.", "Here, as I watch'd the dying lamps around,", "From yonder shrine I heard a hollow sound.", "'Come, sister, come!' (it said, or seem'd to say)", "'Thy place is here, sad sister, come away!", "Once like thyself, I trembled, wept, and pray'd,", "Love's victim then, though now a sainted maid:", "But all is calm in this eternal sleep;", "Here Grief forgets to groan, and Love to weep,", "Even Superstition loses every fear:", "For God, not man, absolves our frailties here.'", "", "I come, I come! prepare your roseate bowers,", "Celestial palms, and ever-blooming flowers.", "Thither, where sinners may have rest, I go,", "Where flames refined in breasts seraphic glow:", "Thou, Abelard! the last sad office pay,", "And smooth my passage to the realms of day;", "See my lips tremble, and my eyeballs roll,", "Suck my last breath, and catch my flying soul!", "Ah, no!--in sacred vestments may'st thou stand,", "The hallow'd taper trembling in thy hand,", "Present the cross before my lifted eye,", "Teach me at once, and learn of me to die.", "Ah, then thy once-loved Eloisa see!", "It will be then no crime to gaze on me.", "See from my cheek the transient roses fly!", "See the last sparkle languish in my eye!", "Till every motion, pulse, and breath be o'er;", "And even my Abelard be loved no more.", "O Death all-eloquent! you only prove", "What dust we doat on when 'tis man we love.", "", "Then too, when fate shall thy fair frame destroy,", "(That cause of all my guilt, and all my joy!)", "In trance ecstatic may thy pangs be drown'd,", "Bright clouds descend, and angels watch thee round,", "From opening skies may streaming glories shine,", "And saints embrace thee with a love like mine.", "", "May one kind grave unite each hapless name,", "And graft my love immortal on thy fame!", "Then, ages hence, when all my woes are o'er,", "When this rebellious heart shall beat no more;", "If ever chance two wandering lovers brings", "To Paraclete's white walls and silver springs,", "O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads,", "And drink the falling tears each other sheds;", "Then sadly say,--with mutual pity moved,", "'Oh, may we never love as these have loved!'", "From the full choir when loud hosannas rise,", "And swell the pomp of dreadful sacrifice,", "Amid that scene, if some relenting eye", "Glance on the stone where our cold relics lie,", "Devotion's self shall steal a thought from heaven,", "One human tear shall drop, and be forgiven.", "And sure, if Fate some future bard shall join", "In sad similitude of griefs to mine,", "Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,", "And image charms he must behold no more;", "Such if there be, who love so long, so well,", "Let him our sad, our tender story tell;", "The well-sung woes will soothe my pensive ghost;", "He best can paint them who shall feel them most." ], "linecount": "366" }, { "title": "From the Arabic: An Imitation", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "My faint spirit was sitting in the light", "Of thy looks, my love;", "It panted for thee like the hind at noon", "For the brooks, my love.", "Thy barb whose hoofs outspeed the tempest's flight", "Bore thee far from me;", "My heart, for my weak feet were weary soon,", "Did companion thee.", "", "Ah! fleeter far than fleetest storm or steed", "Or the death they bear,", "The heart which tender thought clothes like a dove", "With the wings of care;", "In the battle, in the darkness, in the need,", "Shall mine cling to thee,", "Nor claim one smile for all the comfort, love,", "It may bring to thee." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "A Cradle Song", "author": "William Blake", "lines": [ "Sweet dreams, form a shade", "O'er my lovely infant's head!", "Sweet dreams of pleasant streams", "By happy, silent, moony beams!", "", "Sweet Sleep, with soft down", "Weave thy brows an infant crown", "Sweet Sleep, angel mild,", "Hover o'er my happy child!", "", "Sweet smiles, in the night", "Hover over my delight!", "Sweet smiles, mother's smile,", "All the livelong night beguile.", "", "Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,", "Chase not slumber from thine eyes!", "Sweet moan, sweeter smile,", "All the dovelike moans beguile.", "", "Sleep, sleep, happy child!", "All creation slept and smiled.", "Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,", "While o'er thee doth mother weep.", "", "Sweet babe, in thy face", "Holy image I can trace;", "Sweet babe, once like thee", "Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:", "", "Wept for me, for thee, for all,", "When He was an infant small.", "Thou His image ever see,", "Heavenly face that smiles on thee!", "", "Smiles on thee, on me, on all,", "Who became an infant small;", "Infant smiles are his own smiles;", "Heaven and earth to peace beguiles." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Early One Morning", "author": "Edward Thomas", "lines": [ "EARLY one morning in May I set out,", "And nobody I knew was about.", " I'm bound away for ever,", " Away somewhere, away for ever.", "", "There was no wind to trouble the weathercocks.", "I had burnt my letters and darned my socks.", "", "No one knew I was going away,", "I thought myself I should come back some day.", "", "I heard the brook through the town gardens run.", "O sweet was the mud turned to dust by the sun.", "", "A gate banged in a fence and banged in my head.", "\"A fine morning, sir.\" a shepherd said.", "", "I could not return from my liberty,", "To my youth and my love and my misery.", "", "The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet,", "The only sweet thing that is not also fleet.", " I'm bound away for ever,", " Away somewhere, away for ever." ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "The Little Black Boy", "author": "William Blake", "lines": [ "My mother bore me in the southern wild,", " And I am black, but oh my soul is white!", "White as an angel is the English child,", " But I am black, as if bereaved of light.", "", "My mother taught me underneath a tree,", " And, sitting down before the heat of day,", "She took me on her lap and kissed me,", " And, pointed to the east, began to say:", "", "\"Look on the rising sun: there God does live,", " And gives His light, and gives His heat away,", "And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive", " Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.", "", "\"And we are put on earth a little space,", " That we may learn to bear the beams of love", "And these black bodies and this sunburnt face", " Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.", "", "\"For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,", " The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,", "Saying, 'Come out from the grove, my love and care", " And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice',\"", "", "Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;", "And thus I say to little English boy.", "When I from black and he from white cloud free,", "And round the tent of God like lambs we joy", "", "I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear", "To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;", "And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,", "And be like him, and he will then love me." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "Epilogue to the Satires", "author": "Alexander Pope", "lines": [ "IN TWO DIALOGUES.", "", "DIALOGUE I.", "", "_Fr_. Not twice a twelvemonth you appear in print,", "And when it comes, the court see nothing in 't.", "You grow correct, that once with rapture writ,", "And are, besides, too moral for a wit.", "Decay of parts, alas! we all must feel--", "Why now, this moment, don't I see you steal?", "'Tis all from Horace; Horace long before ye", "Said, 'Tories call'd him Whig, and Whigs a Tory;'", "And taught his Romans, in much better metre,", "'To laugh at fools who put their trust in Peter.'", "", "But, Horace, sir, was delicate, was nice;", "Bubo observes, he lash'd no sort of vice:", "Horace would say, Sir Billy served the crown,", "Blunt could do business, Huggins knew the town;", "In Sappho touch the failings of the sex,", "In reverend bishops note some small neglects,", "And own, the Spaniard did a waggish thing,", "Who cropp'd our ears, and sent them to the king.", "His sly, polite, insinuating style", "Could please at court, and make Augustus smile:", "An artful manager, that crept between", "His friend and shame, and was a kind of screen.", "But, faith, your very friends will soon be sore;", "Patriots there are, who wish you'd jest no more--", "And where's the glory? 'twill be only thought", "The great man never offer'd you a groat.", "Go see Sir Robert--", "", "_P_. See Sir Robert!--hum--", "And never laugh--for all my life to come?", "Seen him I have, but in his happier hour", "Of social pleasure, ill-exchanged for power;", "Seen him, uncumber'd with the venal tribe,", "Smile without art, and win without a bribe.", "Would he oblige me? let me only find,", "He does not think me what he thinks mankind.", "Come, come, at all I laugh he laughs, no doubt;", "The only difference is, I dare laugh out.", "", "_F_. Why, yes: with Scripture still you may be free;", "A horse-laugh, if you please, at honesty;", "A joke on Jekyl, or some odd old Whig", "Who never changed his principle, or wig:", "A patriot is a fool in every age,", "Whom all Lord Chamberlains allow the stage:", "These nothing hurts; they keep their fashion still,", "And wear their strange old virtue, as they will.", "", "If any ask you, 'Who's the man, so near", "His prince, that writes in verse, and has his ear?'", "Why, answer, Lyttleton, and I'll engage", "The worthy youth shall ne'er be in a rage:", "But were his verses vile, his whisper base,", "You'd quickly find him in Lord Fanny's case.", "Sejanus, Wolsey, hurt not honest Fleury,", "But well may put some statesmen in a fury.", "", "Laugh then at any, but at fools or foes;", "These you but anger, and you mend not those.", "Laugh at your friends, and, if your friends are sore,", "So much the better, you may laugh the more.", "To vice and folly to confine the jest,", "Sets half the world, God knows, against the rest;", "Did not the sneer of more impartial men", "At sense and virtue, balance all again.", "Judicious wits spread wide the ridicule,", "And charitably comfort knave and fool.", "", "_P_. Dear sir, forgive the prejudice of youth:", "Adieu distinction, satire, warmth, and truth!", "Come, harmless characters that no one hit;", "Come, Henley's oratory, Osborn's wit!", "The honey dropping from Favonio's tongue,", "The flowers of Bubo, and the flow of Yonge!", "The gracious dew of pulpit eloquence,", "And all the well-whipt cream of courtly sense,", "That first was Hervy's, Fox's next, and then", "The senate's, and then Hervy's once again.", "Oh come, that easy, Ciceronian style,", "So Latin, yet so English all the while,", "As, though the pride of Middleton and Bland,", "All boys may read, and girls may understand!", "Then might I sing, without the least offence,", "And all I sung should be the nation's sense;", "Or teach the melancholy Muse to mourn,", "Hang the sad verse on Carolina's urn,", "And hail her passage to the realms of rest,", "All parts perform'd, and all her children bless'd!", "So--satire is no more--I feel it die--", "No gazetteer more innocent than I--", "And let, a-God's-name! every fool and knave", "Be graced through life, and flatter'd in his grave.", "", "_F_. Why so? if satire knows its time and place,", "You still may lash the greatest--in disgrace:", "For merit will by turns forsake them all;", "Would you know when exactly when they fall.", "But let all satire in all changes spare", "Immortal Selkirk, and grave Delaware.", "Silent and soft, as saints remove to heaven,", "All ties dissolved, and every sin forgiven,", "These may some gentle ministerial wing", "Receive, and place for ever near a king!", "There, where no passion, pride, or shame transport,", "Lull'd with the sweet nepenthe of a court;", "There, where no father's, brother's, friend's disgrace", "Once break their rest, or stir them from their place:", "But past the sense of human miseries,", "All tears are wiped for ever from all eyes;", "No cheek is known to blush, no heart to throb,", "Save when they lose a question, or a job.", "", "_P_. Good Heaven forbid that I should blast their glory,", "Who know how like Whig ministers to Tory,", "And when three sovereigns died, could scarce be vex'd,", "Considering what a gracious prince was next.", "Have I, in silent wonder, seen such things", "As pride in slaves, and avarice in kings;", "And at a peer, or peeress, shall I fret,", "Who starves a sister, or forswears a debt?", "Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;", "But shall the dignity of vice be lost?", "Ye gods! shall Cibber's son, without rebuke,", "Swear like a lord, or Rich out-whore a duke?", "A favourite's porter with his master vie,", "Be bribed as often, and as often lie?", "Shall Ward draw contracts with a statesman's skill?", "Or Japhet pocket, like his Grace, a will?", "Is it for Bond, or Peter, (paltry things)", "To pay their debts, or keep their faith, like kings?", "If Blount dispatch'd himself, he play'd the man,", "And so may'st thou, illustrious Passeran!", "But shall a printer, weary of his life,", "Learn from their books to hang himself and wife?", "This, this, my friend, I cannot, must not bear:", "Vice thus abused, demands a nation's care:", "This calls the Church to deprecate our sin,", "And hurls the thunder of the laws on gin,", "Let modest Foster, if he will, excel", "Ten metropolitans in preaching well;", "A simple Quaker, or a Quaker's wife,", "Outdo Landaff in doctrine,--yea, in life:", "Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,", "Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.", "Virtue may choose the high or low degree,", "'Tis just alike to virtue, and to me;", "Dwell in a monk, or light upon a king,", "She's still the same beloved, contented thing.", "Vice is undone, if she forgets her birth,", "And stoops from angels to the dregs of earth:", "But 'tis the fall degrades her to a whore;", "Let greatness own her, and she's mean no more:", "Her birth, her beauty, crowds and courts confess,", "Chaste matrons praise her, and grave bishops bless:", "In golden chains the willing world she draws,", "And hers the gospel is, and hers the laws,", "Mounts the tribunal, lifts her scarlet head,", "And sees pale virtue carted in her stead.", "Lo! at the wheels of her triumphal car,", "Old England's genius, rough with many a scar,", "Dragg'd in the dust! his arms hang idly round,", "His flag inverted trails along the ground!", "Our youth, all liveried o'er with foreign gold,", "Before her dance: behind her, crawl the old!", "See thronging millions to the pagod run,", "And offer country, parent, wife, or son!", "Hear her black trumpet through the land proclaim,", "That NOT TO BE CORRUPTED IS THE SHAME!", "In soldier, churchman, patriot, man in power,", "'Tis avarice all, ambition is no more!", "See, all our nobles begging to be slaves!", "See, all our fools aspiring to be knaves!", "The wit of cheats, the courage of a whore,", "Are what ten thousand envy and adore!", "All, all look up with reverential awe,", "At crimes that 'scape, or triumph o'er the law:", "While truth, worth, wisdom, daily they decry--", "'Nothing is sacred now but villany.'", "", "Yet may this verse (if such a verse remain)", "Show, there was one who held it in disdain.", "", "DIALOGUE II.", "", "_Fr_. 'Tis all a libel--Paxton (sir) will say.", "", "_P_. Not yet, my friend! to-morrow, faith, it may;", "And for that very cause I print to-day.", "How should I fret to mangle every line,", "In reverence to the sins of thirty-nine!", "Vice with such giant strides comes on amain,", "Invention strives to be before in vain;", "Feign what I will, and paint it e'er so strong,", "Some rising genius sins up to my song.", "", "_F_. Yet none but you by name the guilty lash;", "Ev'n Guthrie saves half Newgate by a dash.", "Spare then the person, and expose the vice.", "", "_P_. How, sir! not damn the sharper, but the dice?", "Come on then, Satire! general, unconfined,", "Spread thy broad wing, and souse on all the kind.", "Ye statesmen, priests, of one religion all!", "Ye tradesmen, vile, in army, court, or hall!", "Ye reverend atheists----", "", "_F_. Scandal! name them, who?", "", "_P_. Why that's the thing you bid me not to do.", "Who starved a sister, who forswore a debt,", "I never named; the town's inquiring yet.", "The poisoning dame----", "", "_F_. You mean----", "", "_P_. I don't.", "", "_F_. You do.", "", "_P_. See, now I keep the secret, and not you!", "The bribing statesman----", "", "_F_. Hold, too high you go.", "", "_P_. The bribed elector----", "", "_F_. There you stoop too low.", "", "_P_. I fain would please you, if I knew with what;", "Tell me, which knave is lawful game, which not?", "Must great offenders, once escaped the crown,", "Like royal harts, be never more run down?", "Admit, your law to spare the knight requires,", "As beasts of nature may we hunt the 'squires?", "Suppose I censure--you know what I mean--", "To save a bishop, may I name a dean?", "", "_F_. A dean, sir? no: his fortune is not made,", "You hurt a man that's rising in the trade.", "", "_P_. If not the tradesman who set up to-day,", "Much less the 'prentice who to-morrow may.", "Down, down, proud Satire! though a realm be spoil'd,", "Arraign no mightier thief than wretched Wild;", "Or, if a court or country's made a job,", "Go drench a pickpocket, and join the mob.", "", "But, sir, I beg you (for the love of vice!)", "The matter's weighty, pray consider twice;", "Have you less pity for the needy cheat,", "The poor and friendless villain, than the great?", "Alas! the small discredit of a bribe", "Scarce hurts the lawyer, but undoes the scribe.", "Then better, sure, it charity becomes", "To tax directors, who (thank God) have plums;", "Still better, ministers; or, if the thing", "May pinch ev'n there--why lay it on a king.", "", "_F._ Stop! stop!", "", "_P._ Must Satire, then, nor rise nor fall?", "Speak out, and bid me blame no rogues at all.", "", "_F._ Yes, strike that Wild, I'll justify the blow.", "", "_P._ Strike! why the man was hanged ten years ago:", "Who now that obsolete example fears?", "Ev'n Peter trembles only for his ears.", "", "_F._ What, always Peter! Peter thinks you mad,", "You make men desperate if they once are bad:", "Else might he take to virtue some years hence", "", "_P._ As Selkirk, if he lives, will love the Prince.", "", "_F._ Strange spleen to Selkirk!", "", "_P._ Do I wrong the man?", "God knows, I praise a courtier where I can.", "When I confess, there is who feels for fame,", "And melts to goodness, need I Scarb'rough name?", "Pleased, let me own, in Esher's peaceful grove", "(Where Kent and nature vie for Pelham's love)", "The scene, the master, opening to my view,", "I sit and dream I see my Craggs anew!", "Ev'n in a bishop I can spy desert;", "Secker is decent--Rundel has a heart--", "Manners with candour are to Benson given--", "To Berkeley, every virtue under heaven.", "", "But does the court a worthy man remove?", "That instant, I declare, he has my love:", "I shun his zenith, court his mild decline;", "Thus Somers once, and Halifax, were mine.", "Oft, in the clear, still mirror of retreat,", "I studied Shrewsbury, the wise and great:", "Carleton's calm sense, and Stanhope's noble flame,", "Compared, and knew their generous end the same:", "How pleasing Atterbury's softer hour!", "How shined the soul, unconquer'd in the Tower!", "How can I Pulteney, Chesterfield, forget,", "While Roman spirit charms, and Attic wit:", "Argyll, the state's whole thunder born to wield,", "And shake alike the senate and the field:", "Or Wyndham, just to freedom and the throne,", "The master of our passions, and his own.", "Names, which I long have loved, nor loved in vain,", "Rank'd with their friends, not number'd with their train:", "And if yet higher the proud list should end,", "Still let me say,--No follower, but a friend.", "", "Yet think not Friendship only prompts my lays;", "I follow Virtue; where she shines, I praise:", "Point she to priest or elder, Whig or Tory,", "Or round a Quaker's beaver cast a glory.", "I never (to my sorrow I declare)", "Dined with the Man of Ross, or my Lord Mayor.", "Some, in their choice of friends, (nay, look not grave) 100", "Have still a secret bias to a knave:", "To find an honest man I beat about.", "And love him, court him, praise him, in or out.", "", "_F_. Then why so few commended?", "", "_P_. Not so fierce;", "Find you the virtue, and I'll find the verse.", "But random praise--the task can ne'er be done;", "Each mother asks it for her booby son,", "Each widow asks it for 'the best of men,'", "For him she weeps, and him she weds again.", "Praise cannot stoop, like satire, to the ground;", "The number may be hang'd, but not be crown'd.", "Enough for half the greatest of these days,", "To 'scape my censure, not expect my praise.", "Are they not rich? what more can they pretend?", "Dare they to hope a poet for their friend?", "What Richelieu wanted, Louis scarce could gain,", "And what young Ammon wish'd, but wish'd in vain.", "No power the Muse's friendship can command;", "No power, when Virtue claims it, can withstand:", "To Cato, Virgil paid one honest line;", "Oh let my country's friends illumine mine!", "--What are you thinking?", "", "_F_. Faith, the thought's no sin--", "I think your friends are out, and would be in.", "", "_P_. If merely to come in, sir, they go out,", "The way they take is strangely round about.", "", "_F_. They too may be corrupted, you'll allow?", "", "_P_. I only call those knaves who are so now.", "Is that too little? Come then, I'll comply--", "Spirit of Arnall! aid me while I lie.", "Cobham's a coward, Polwarth is a slave,", "And Lyttleton a dark, designing knave,", "St John has ever been a wealthy fool--", "But let me add, Sir Robert's mighty dull,", "Has never made a friend in private life,", "And was, besides, a tyrant to his wife.", "", "But pray, when others praise him, do I blame?", "Call Verres, Wolsey, any odious name?", "Why rail they then, if but a wreath of mine,", "O all-accomplish'd St John! deck thy shrine?", "", "What! shall each spur-gall'd hackney of the day,", "When Paxton gives him double pots and pay,", "Or each new-pension'd sycophant, pretend", "To break my windows if I treat a friend?", "Then wisely plead, to me they meant no hurt,", "But 'twas my guest at whom they threw the dirt?", "Sure, if I spare the minister, no rules", "Of honour bind me, not to maul his tools;", "Sure, if they cannot cut, it may be said", "His saws are toothless, and his hatchet's lead.", "", "It anger'd Turenne, once upon a day,", "To see a footman kick'd that took his pay:", "But when he heard the affront the fellow gave,", "Knew one a man of honour, one a knave,", "The prudent general turn'd it to a jest,", "And begg'd he'd take the pains to kick the rest:", "Which not at present having time to do----", "", "_F_. Hold sir! for God's-sake where 'a the affront to you?", "Against your worship when had Selkirk writ?", "Or Page pour'd forth the torrent of his wit?", "Or grant the bard whose distich all commend", "'In power a servant, out of power a friend,'", "To Walpole guilty of some venial sin;", "What's that to you who ne'er was out nor in?", "", "The priest whose flattery bedropp'd the crown,", "How hurt he you? he only stain'd the gown.", "And how did, pray, the florid youth offend,", "Whose speech you took, and gave it to a friend?", "", "_P_. Faith, it imports not much from whom it came;", "Whoever borrow'd, could not be to blame,", "Since the whole house did afterwards the same.", "Let courtly wits to wits afford supply,", "As hog to hog in huts of Westphaly;", "If one, through Nature's bounty, or his lord's,", "Has what the frugal, dirty soil affords,", "From him the next receives it, thick or thin,", "As pure a mess almost as it came in;", "The blessed benefit, not there confined,", "Drops to the third, who nuzzles close behind;", "From tail to mouth, they feed and they carouse:", "The last full fairly gives it to the House.", "", "_F_. This filthy simile, this beastly line", "Quite turns my stomach----", "", "_P_. So does flattery mine;", "And all your courtly civet-cats can vent,", "Perfume to you, to me is excrement.", "But hear me further--Japhet, 'tis agreed,", "Writ not, and Chartres scarce could write or read,", "In all the courts of Pindus guiltless quite;", "But pens can forge, my friend, that cannot write;", "And must no egg in Japhet's face be thrown,", "Because the deed he forged was not my own?", "Must never patriot then declaim at gin,", "Unless, good man! he has been fairly in?", "No zealous pastor blame a failing spouse,", "Without a staring reason on his brows?", "And each blasphemer quite escape the rod,", "Because the insult's not on man, but God?", "", "Ask you what provocation I have had?", "The strong antipathy of good to bad.", "When truth or virtue an affront endures,", "The affront is mine, my friend, and should be yours.", "Mine, as a foe profess'd to false pretence,", "Who think a coxcomb's honour like his sense;", "Mine, as a friend to every worthy mind;", "And mine, as man, who feel for all mankind.", "", "_F_. You're strangely proud.", "", "_P_. So proud, I am no slave:", "So impudent, I own myself no knave:", "So odd, my country's ruin makes me grave.", "Yes, I am proud; I must be proud to see", "Men not afraid of God, afraid of me:", "Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,", "Yet touch'd and shamed by ridicule alone.", "", "O sacred weapon! left for truth's defence,", "Sole dread of folly, vice, and insolence!", "To all but heaven-directed hands denied,", "The Muse may give thee, but the gods must guide:", "Rev'rent I touch thee! but with honest zeal;", "To rouse the watchmen of the public weal,", "To virtue's work provoke the tardy Hall,", "And goad the prelate slumbering in his stall.", "Ye tinsel insects! whom a court maintains,", "That counts your beauties only by your stains,", "Spin all your cobwebs o'er the eye of day!", "The Muse's wing shall brush you all away:", "All his grace preaches, all his lordship sings,", "All that makes saints of queens, and gods of kings,--", "All, all but truth, drops dead-born from the press,", "Like the last gazette, or the last address.", "", "When black ambition stains a public cause,", "A monarch's sword when mad vain-glory draws,", "Not Waller's wreath can hide the nation's scar,", "Nor Boileau turn the feather to a star.", "", "Not so, when, diadem'd with rays divine,", "Touch'd with the flame that breaks from Virtue's shrine,", "Her priestess Muse forbids the good to die,", "And opes the temple of Eternity.", "There, other trophies deck the truly brave,", "Than such as Anstis casts into the grave;", "Far other stars than ---- and ---- wear,", "And may descend to Mordington from Stair:", "(Such as on Hough's unsullied mitre shine,", "Or beam, good Digby, from a heart like thine)", "Let Envy howl, while Heaven's whole chorus sings,", "And bark at honour not conferr'd by kings;", "Let Flattery sickening see the incense rise,", "Sweet to the world, and grateful to the skies:", "Truth guards the poet, sanctifies the line,", "And makes immortal verse as mean as mine.", "", "Yes, the last pen for freedom let me draw,", "When truth stands trembling on the edge of law;", "Here, last of Britons! let your names be read;", "Are none, none living? let me praise the dead,", "And for that cause which made your fathers shine,", "Fall by the votes of their degenerate line.", "", "_F_. Alas! alas! pray end what you began,", "And write next winter more 'Essays on Man.'" ], "linecount": "443" }, { "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" }, { "title": "The Cenci. A Tragedy in Five Acts.", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "ACT 1.", "", "SCENE 1.1:", "AN APARTMENT IN THE CENCI PALACE.", "ENTER COUNT CENCI AND CARDINAL CAMILLO.", "", "CAMILLO:", "That matter of the murder is hushed up", "If you consent to yield his Holiness", "Your fief that lies beyond the Pincian gate.--", "It needed all my interest in the conclave", "To bend him to this point; he said that you", "Bought perilous impunity with your gold;", "That crimes like yours if once or twice compounded", "Enriched the Church, and respited from hell", "An erring soul which might repent and live: --", "But that the glory and the interest", "Of the high throne he fills, little consist", "With making it a daily mart of guilt", "As manifold and hideous as the deeds", "Which you scarce hide from men's revolted eyes.", "", "CENCI:", "The third of my possessions--let it go!", "Ay, I once heard the nephew of the Pope", "Had sent his architect to view the ground,", "Meaning to build a villa on my vines", "The next time I compounded with his uncle:", "I little thought he should outwit me so!", "Henceforth no witness--not the lamp--shall see", "That which the vassal threatened to divulge", "Whose throat is choked with dust for his reward.", "The deed he saw could not have rated higher", "Than his most worthless life:--it angers me!", "Respited me from Hell! So may the Devil", "Respite their souls from Heaven! No doubt Pope Clement,", "And his most charitable nephews, pray", "That the Apostle Peter and the Saints", "Will grant for their sake that I long enjoy", "Strength, wealth, and pride, and lust, and length of days", "Wherein to act the deeds which are the stewards", "Of their revenue.--But much yet remains", "To which they show no title.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Oh, Count Cenci!", "So much that thou mightst honourably live", "And reconcile thyself with thine own heart", "And with thy God, and with the offended world.", "How hideously look deeds of lust and blood", "Through those snow white and venerable hairs!--", "Your children should be sitting round you now,", "But that you fear to read upon their looks", "The shame and misery you have written there.", "Where is your wife? Where is your gentle daughter?", "Methinks her sweet looks, which make all things else", "Beauteous and glad, might kill the fiend within you.", "Why is she barred from all society", "But her own strange and uncomplaining wrongs?", "Talk with me, Count,--you know I mean you well.", "I stood beside your dark and fiery youth", "Watching its bold and bad career, as men", "Watch meteors, but it vanished not--I marked", "Your desperate and remorseless manhood; now", "Do I behold you in dishonoured age", "Charged with a thousand unrepented crimes.", "Yet I have ever hoped you would amend,", "And in that hope have saved your life three times.", "", "CENCI:", "For which Aldobrandino owes you now", "My fief beyond the Pincian.--Cardinal,", "One thing, I pray you, recollect henceforth,", "And so we shall converse with less restraint.", "A man you knew spoke of my wife and daughter--", "He was accustomed to frequent my house;", "So the next day HIS wife and daughter came", "And asked if I had seen him; and I smiled:", "I think they never saw him any more.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Thou execrable man, beware!--", "", "CENCI:", "Of thee?", "Nay, this is idle: --We should know each other.", "As to my character for what men call crime", "Seeing I please my senses as I list,", "And vindicate that right with force or guile,", "It is a public matter, and I care not", "If I discuss it with you. I may speak", "Alike to you and my own conscious heart--", "For you give out that you have half reformed me,", "Therefore strong vanity will keep you silent", "If fear should not; both will, I do not doubt.", "All men delight in sensual luxury,", "All men enjoy revenge; and most exult", "Over the tortures they can never feel--", "Flattering their secret peace with others' pain.", "But I delight in nothing else. I love", "The sight of agony, and the sense of joy,", "When this shall be another's, and that mine.", "And I have no remorse and little fear,", "Which are, I think, the checks of other men.", "This mood has grown upon me, until now", "Any design my captious fancy makes", "The picture of its wish, and it forms none", "But such as men like you would start to know,", "Is as my natural food and rest debarred", "Until it be accomplished.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Art thou not", "Most miserable?", "", "CENCI:", "Why miserable?--", "No.--I am what your theologians call", "Hardened;--which they must be in impudence,", "So to revile a man's peculiar taste.", "True, I was happier than I am, while yet", "Manhood remained to act the thing I thought;", "While lust was sweeter than revenge; and now", "Invention palls:--Ay, we must all grow old--", "And but that there remains a deed to act", "Whose horror might make sharp an appetite", "Duller than mine--I'd do,--I know not what.", "When I was young I thought of nothing else", "But pleasure; and I fed on honey sweets:", "Men, by St. Thomas! cannot live like bees,", "And I grew tired:--yet, till I killed a foe,", "And heard his groans, and heard his children's groans,", "Knew I not what delight was else on earth,", "Which now delights me little. I the rather", "Look on such pangs as terror ill conceals,", "The dry fixed eyeball; the pale, quivering lip,", "Which tell me that the spirit weeps within", "Tears bitterer than the bloody sweat of Christ.", "I rarely kill the body, which preserves,", "Like a strong prison, the soul within my power,", "Wherein I feed it with the breath of fear", "For hourly pain.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Hell's most abandoned fiend", "Did never, in the drunkenness of guilt,", "Speak to his heart as now you speak to me;", "I thank my God that I believe you not.", "", "[ENTER ANDREA.]", "", "ANDREA:", "My Lord, a gentleman from Salamanca", "Would speak with you.", "", "CENCI:", "Bid him attend me", "In the grand saloon.", "", "[EXIT ANDREA.]", "", "CAMILLO:", "Farewell; and I will pray", "Almighty God that thy false, impious words", "Tempt not his spirit to abandon thee.", "", "[EXIT CAMILLO.]", "", "CENCI:", "The third of my possessions! I must use", "Close husbandry, or gold, the old man's sword,", "Falls from my withered hand. But yesterday", "There came an order from the Pope to make", "Fourfold provision for my cursed sons;", "Whom I had sent from Rome to Salamanca,", "Hoping some accident might cut them off;", "And meaning if I could to starve them there.", "I pray thee, God, send some quick death upon them!", "Bernardo and my wife could not be worse", "If dead and damned:--then, as to Beatrice--", "[LOOKING AROUND HIM SUSPICIOUSLY.]", "I think they cannot hear me at that door;", "What if they should? And yet I need not speak", "Though the heart triumphs with itself in words.", "O, thou most silent air, that shalt not hear", "What now I think! Thou, pavement, which I tread", "Towards her chamber,--let your echoes talk", "Of my imperious step scorning surprise,", "But not of my intent!--Andrea!", "", "[ENTER ANDREA.]", "", "ANDREA:", "My lord?", "", "CENCI:", "Bid Beatrice attend me in her chamber", "This evening:--no, at midnight and alone.", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "SCENE 1.2:", "A GARDEN OF THE CENCI PALACE.", "ENTER BEATRICE AND ORSINO, AS IN CONVERSATION.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Pervert not truth,", "Orsino. You remember where we held", "That conversation;--nay, we see the spot", "Even from this cypress;--two long years are past", "Since, on an April midnight, underneath", "The moonlight ruins of Mount Palatine,", "I did confess to you my secret mind.", "", "ORSINO:", "You said you loved me then.", "", "BEATRICE:", "You are a Priest.", "Speak to me not of love.", "", "ORSINO:", "I may obtain", "The dispensation of the Pope to marry.", "Because I am a Priest do you believe", "Your image, as the hunter some struck deer,", "Follows me not whether I wake or sleep?", "", "BEATRICE:", "As I have said, speak to me not of love;", "Had you a dispensation I have not;", "Nor will I leave this home of misery", "Whilst my poor Bernard, and that gentle lady", "To whom I owe life, and these virtuous thoughts,", "Must suffer what I still have strength to share.", "Alas, Orsino! All the love that once", "I felt for you, is turned to bitter pain.", "Ours was a youthful contract, which you first", "Broke, by assuming vows no Pope will loose.", "And thus I love you still, but holily,", "Even as a sister or a spirit might;", "And so I swear a cold fidelity.", "And it is well perhaps we shall not marry.", "You have a sly, equivocating vein", "That suits me not.--Ah, wretched that I am!", "Where shall I turn? Even now you look on me", "As you were not my friend, and as if you", "Discovered that I thought so, with false smiles", "Making my true suspicion seem your wrong.", "Ah, no! forgive me; sorrow makes me seem", "Sterner than else my nature might have been;", "I have a weight of melancholy thoughts,", "And they forebode,--but what can they forebode", "Worse than I now endure?", "", "ORSINO:", "All will be well.", "Is the petition yet prepared? You know", "My zeal for all you wish, sweet Beatrice;", "Doubt not but I will use my utmost skill", "So that the Pope attend to your complaint.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Your zeal for all I wish;--Ah me, you are cold!", "Your utmost skill...speak but one word...", "[ASIDE.]", "Alas!", "Weak and deserted creature that I am,", "Here I stand bickering with my only friend!", "[TO ORSINO.]", "This night my father gives a sumptuous feast,", "Orsino; he has heard some happy news", "From Salamanca, from my brothers there,", "And with this outward show of love he mocks", "His inward hate. 'Tis bold hypocrisy,", "For he would gladlier celebrate their deaths,", "Which I have heard him pray for on his knees:", "Great God! that such a father should be mine!", "But there is mighty preparation made,", "And all our kin, the Cenci, will be there,", "And all the chief nobility of Rome.", "And he has bidden me and my pale Mother", "Attire ourselves in festival array.", "Poor lady! She expects some happy change", "In his dark spirit from this act; I none.", "At supper I will give you the petition:", "Till when--farewell.", "", "ORSINO:", "Farewell.", "[EXIT BEATRICE.]", "I know the Pope", "Will ne'er absolve me from my priestly vow", "But by absolving me from the revenue", "Of many a wealthy see; and, Beatrice,", "I think to win thee at an easier rate.", "Nor shall he read her eloquent petition:", "He might bestow her on some poor relation", "Of his sixth cousin, as he did her sister,", "And I should be debarred from all access.", "Then as to what she suffers from her father,", "In all this there is much exaggeration:--", "Old men are testy and will have their way;", "A man may stab his enemy, or his vassal,", "And live a free life as to wine or women,", "And with a peevish temper may return", "To a dull home, and rate his wife and children;", "Daughters and wives call this foul tyranny.", "I shall be well content if on my conscience", "There rest no heavier sin than what they suffer", "From the devices of my love--a net", "From which he shall escape not. Yet I fear", "Her subtle mind, her awe-inspiring gaze,", "Whose beams anatomize me nerve by nerve", "And lay me bare, and make me blush to see", "My hidden thoughts.--Ah, no! A friendless girl", "Who clings to me, as to her only hope:--", "I were a fool, not less than if a panther", "Were panic-stricken by the antelope's eye,", "If she escape me.", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "SCENE 1.3:", "A MAGNIFICENT HALL IN THE CENCI PALACE.", "A BANQUET.", "ENTER CENCI, LUCRETIA, BEATRICE, ORSINO, CAMILLO, NOBLES.", "", "CENCI:", "Welcome, my friends and kinsmen; welcome ye,", "Princes and Cardinals, pillars of the church,", "Whose presence honours our festivity.", "I have too long lived like an anchorite,", "And in my absence from your merry meetings", "An evil word is gone abroad of me;", "But I do hope that you, my noble friends,", "When you have shared the entertainment here,", "And heard the pious cause for which 'tis given,", "And we have pledged a health or two together,", "Will think me flesh and blood as well as you;", "Sinful indeed, for Adam made all so,", "But tender-hearted, meek and pitiful.", "", "FIRST GUEST:", "In truth, my Lord, you seem too light of heart,", "Too sprightly and companionable a man,", "To act the deeds that rumour pins on you.", "[TO HIS COMPANION.]", "I never saw such blithe and open cheer", "In any eye!", "", "SECOND GUEST:", "Some most desired event,", "In which we all demand a common joy,", "Has brought us hither; let us hear it, Count.", "", "CENCI:", "It is indeed a most desired event.", "If when a parent from a parent's heart", "Lifts from this earth to the great Father of all", "A prayer, both when he lays him down to sleep,", "And when he rises up from dreaming it;", "One supplication, one desire, one hope,", "That he would grant a wish for his two sons,", "Even all that he demands in their regard--", "And suddenly beyond his dearest hope", "It is accomplished, he should then rejoice,", "And call his friends and kinsmen to a feast,", "And task their love to grace his merriment,--", "Then honour me thus far--for I am he.", "", "BEATRICE [TO LUCRETIA]:", "Great God! How horrible! some dreadful ill", "Must have befallen my brothers.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Fear not, child,", "He speaks too frankly.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Ah! My blood runs cold.", "I fear that wicked laughter round his eye,", "Which wrinkles up the skin even to the hair.", "", "CENCI:", "Here are the letters brought from Salamanca;", "Beatrice, read them to your mother. God!", "I thank thee! In one night didst thou perform,", "By ways inscrutable, the thing I sought.", "My disobedient and rebellious sons", "Are dead!--Why, dead!--What means this change of cheer?", "You hear me not, I tell you they are dead;", "And they will need no food or raiment more:", "The tapers that did light them the dark way", "Are their last cost. The Pope, I think, will not", "Expect I should maintain them in their coffins.", "Rejoice with me--my heart is wondrous glad.", "", "[LUCRETIA SINKS, HALF FAINTING; BEATRICE SUPPORTS HER.]", "", "BEATRICE :", "It is not true!--Dear Lady, pray look up.", "Had it been true, there is a God in Heaven,", "He would not live to boast of such a boon.", "Unnatural man, thou knowest that it is false.", "", "CENCI:", "Ay, as the word of God; whom here I call", "To witness that I speak the sober truth;--", "And whose most favouring Providence was shown", "Even in the manner of their deaths. For Rocco", "Was kneeling at the mass, with sixteen others,", "When the church fell and crushed him to a mummy,", "The rest escaped unhurt. Cristofano", "Was stabbed in error by a jealous man,", "Whilst she he loved was sleeping with his rival;", "All in the self-same hour of the same night;", "Which shows that Heaven has special care of me.", "I beg those friends who love me, that they mark", "The day a feast upon their calendars.", "It was the twenty-seventh of December:", "Ay, read the letters if you doubt my oath.", "", "[THE ASSEMBLY APPEARS CONFUSED; SEVERAL OF THE GUESTS RISE.]", "", "FIRST GUEST:", "Oh, horrible! I will depart--", "", "SECOND GUEST:", "And I.--", "", "THIRD GUEST:", "No, stay!", "I do believe it is some jest; though faith!", "'Tis mocking us somewhat too solemnly.", "I think his son has married the Infanta,", "Or found a mine of gold in El Dorado.", "'Tis but to season some such news; stay, stay!", "I see 'tis only raillery by his smile.", "", "CENCI [FILLING A BOWL OF WINE, AND LIFTING IT UP]:", "Oh, thou bright wine whose purple splendour leaps", "And bubbles gaily in this golden bowl", "Under the lamplight, as my spirits do,", "To hear the death of my accursed sons!", "Could I believe thou wert their mingled blood,", "Then would I taste thee like a sacrament,", "And pledge with thee the mighty Devil in Hell,", "Who, if a father's curses, as men say,", "Climb with swift wings after their children's souls,", "And drag them from the very throne of Heaven,", "Now triumphs in my triumph!--But thou art", "Superfluous; I have drunken deep of joy,", "And I will taste no other wine to-night.", "Here, Andrea! Bear the bowl around.", "", "A GUEST [RISING]:", "Thou wretch!", "Will none among this noble company", "Check the abandoned villain?", "", "CAMILLO:", "For God's sake,", "Let me dismiss the guests! You are insane,", "Some ill will come of this.", "", "SECOND GUEST:", "Seize, silence him!", "", "FIRST GUEST:", "I will!", "", "THIRD GUEST:", "And I!", "", "CENCI [ADDRESSING THOSE WHO RISE WITH A THREATENING GESTURE]:", "Who moves? Who speaks?", "[TURNING TO THE COMPANY.]", "'tis nothing,", "Enjoy yourselves.--Beware! For my revenge", "Is as the sealed commission of a king", "That kills, and none dare name the murderer.", "", "[THE BANQUET IS BROKEN UP; SEVERAL OF THE GUESTS ARE DEPARTING.]", "", "BEATRICE:", "I do entreat you, go not, noble guests;", "What, although tyranny and impious hate", "Stand sheltered by a father's hoary hair?", "What if 'tis he who clothed us in these limbs", "Who tortures them, and triumphs? What, if we,", "The desolate and the dead, were his own flesh,", "His children and his wife, whom he is bound", "To love and shelter? Shall we therefore find", "No refuge in this merciless wide world?", "O think what deep wrongs must have blotted out", "First love, then reverence in a child's prone mind,", "Till it thus vanquish shame and fear! O think!", "I have borne much, and kissed the sacred hand", "Which crushed us to the earth, and thought its stroke", "Was perhaps some paternal chastisement!", "Have excused much, doubted; and when no doubt", "Remained, have sought by patience, love, and tears", "To soften him, and when this could not be", "I have knelt down through the long sleepless nights", "And lifted up to God, the Father of all,", "Passionate prayers: and when these were not heard", "I have still borne,--until I meet you here,", "Princes and kinsmen, at this hideous feast", "Given at my brothers' deaths. Two yet remain,", "His wife remains and I, whom if ye save not,", "Ye may soon share such merriment again", "As fathers make over their children's graves.", "O Prince Colonna, thou art our near kinsman,", "Cardinal, thou art the Pope's chamberlain,", "Camillo, thou art chief justiciary,", "Take us away!", "", "CENCI [HE HAS BEEN CONVERSING WITH CAMILLO DURING THE FIRST PART OF", "BEATRICE'S SPEECH; HE HEARS THE CONCLUSION, AND NOW ADVANCES]:", "I hope my good friends here", "Will think of their own daughters--or perhaps", "Of their own throats--before they lend an ear", "To this wild girl.", "", "BEATRICE [NOT NOTICING THE WORDS OF CENCI]:", "Dare no one look on me?", "None answer? Can one tyrant overbear", "The sense of many best and wisest men?", "Or is it that I sue not in some form", "Of scrupulous law, that ye deny my suit?", "O God! That I were buried with my brothers!", "And that the flowers of this departed spring", "Were fading on my grave! And that my father", "Were celebrating now one feast for all!", "", "CAMILLO:", "A bitter wish for one so young and gentle.", "Can we do nothing?", "", "COLONNA:", "Nothing that I see.", "Count Cenci were a dangerous enemy:", "Yet I would second any one.", "", "A CARDINAL:", "And I.", "", "CENCI:", "Retire to your chamber, insolent girl!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Retire thou, impious man! Ay, hide thyself", "Where never eye can look upon thee more!", "Wouldst thou have honour and obedience", "Who art a torturer? Father, never dream,", "Though thou mayst overbear this company,", "But ill must come of ill.--Frown not on me!", "Haste, hide thyself, lest with avenging looks", "My brothers' ghosts should hunt thee from thy seat!", "Cover thy face from every living eye,", "And start if thou but hear a human step:", "Seek out some dark and silent corner, there,", "Bow thy white head before offended God,", "And we will kneel around, and fervently", "Pray that he pity both ourselves and thee.", "", "CENCI:", "My friends, I do lament this insane girl", "Has spoilt the mirth of our festivity.", "Good night, farewell; I will not make you longer", "Spectators of our dull domestic quarrels.", "Another time.--", "[EXEUNT ALL BUT CENCI AND BEATRICE.]", "My brain is swimming round;", "Give me a bowl of wine!", "[TO BEATRICE.]", "Thou painted viper!", "Beast that thou art! Fair and yet terrible!", "I know a charm shall make thee meek and tame,", "Now get thee from my sight!", "[EXIT BEATRICE.]", "Here, Andrea,", "Fill up this goblet with Greek wine. I said", "I would not drink this evening; but I must;", "For, strange to say, I feel my spirits fail", "With thinking what I have decreed to do.--", "[DRINKING THE WINE.]", "Be thou the resolution of quick youth", "Within my veins, and manhood's purpose stern,", "And age's firm, cold, subtle villainy;", "As if thou wert indeed my children's blood", "Which I did thirst to drink! The charm works well;", "It must be done; it shall be done, I swear!", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "END OF ACT 1.", "", "ACT 2.", "", "SCENE 2.1:", "AN APARTMENT IN THE CENCI PALACE.", "ENTER LUCRETIA AND BERNARDO.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Weep not, my gentle boy; he struck but me", "Who have borne deeper wrongs. In truth, if he", "Had killed me, he had done a kinder deed.", "O God Almighty, do Thou look upon us,", "We have no other friend but only Thee!", "Yet weep not; though I love you as my own,", "I am not your true mother.", "", "BERNARDO:", "Oh, more, more,", "Than ever mother was to any child,", "That have you been to me! Had he not been", "My father, do you think that I should weep!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Alas! Poor boy, what else couldst thou have done?", "", "[ENTER BEATRICE.]", "", "BEATRICE [IN A HURRIED VOICE]:", "Did he pass this way? Have you seen him, brother?", "Ah, no! that is his step upon the stairs;", "'Tis nearer now; his hand is on the door;", "Mother, if I to thee have ever been", "A duteous child, now save me! Thou, great God,", "Whose image upon earth a father is,", "Dost thou indeed abandon me? He comes;", "The door is opening now; I see his face;", "He frowns on others, but he smiles on me,", "Even as he did after the feast last night.", "[ENTER A SERVANT.]", "Almighty God, how merciful Thou art!", "'Tis but Orsino's servant.--Well, what news?", "", "SERVANT:", "My master bids me say, the Holy Father", "Has sent back your petition thus unopened.", "[GIVING A PAPER.]", "And he demands at what hour 'twere secure", "To visit you again?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "At the Ave Mary.", "[EXIT SERVANT.]", "So, daughter, our last hope has failed. Ah me!", "How pale you look; you tremble, and you stand", "Wrapped in some fixed and fearful meditation,", "As if one thought were over strong for you:", "Your eyes have a chill glare; O, dearest child!", "Are you gone mad? If not, pray speak to me.", "", "BEATRICE:", "You see I am not mad: I speak to you.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "You talked of something that your father did", "After that dreadful feast? Could it be worse", "Than when he smiled, and cried, 'My sons are dead!'", "And every one looked in his neighbour's face", "To see if others were as white as he?", "At the first word he spoke I felt the blood", "Rush to my heart, and fell into a trance;", "And when it passed I sat all weak and wild;", "Whilst you alone stood up, and with strong words", "Checked his unnatural pride; and I could see", "The devil was rebuked that lives in him.", "Until this hour thus you have ever stood", "Between us and your father's moody wrath", "Like a protecting presence; your firm mind", "Has been our only refuge and defence:", "What can have thus subdued it? What can now", "Have given you that cold melancholy look,", "Succeeding to your unaccustomed fear?", "", "BEATRICE:", "What is it that you say? I was just thinking", "'Twere better not to struggle any more.", "Men, like my father, have been dark and bloody,", "Yet never--Oh! Before worse comes of it", "'Twere wise to die: it ends in that at last.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh, talk not so, dear child! Tell me at once", "What did your father do or say to you?", "He stayed not after that accursed feast", "One moment in your chamber.--Speak to me.", "", "BERNARDO:", "Oh, sister, sister, prithee, speak to us!", "", "BEATRICE [SPEAKING VERY SLOWLY, WITH A FORCED CALMNESS]:", "It was one word, Mother, one little word;", "One look, one smile.", "[WILDLY.]", "Oh! He has trampled me", "Under his feet, and made the blood stream down", "My pallid cheeks. And he has given us all", "Ditch-water, and the fever-stricken flesh", "Of buffaloes, and bade us eat or starve,", "And we have eaten.--He has made me look", "On my beloved Bernardo, when the rust", "Of heavy chains has gangrened his sweet limbs,", "And I have never yet despaired--but now!", "What could I say?", "[RECOVERING HERSELF.]", "Ah, no! 'tis nothing new.", "The sufferings we all share have made me wild:", "He only struck and cursed me as he passed;", "He said, he looked, he did;--nothing at all", "Beyond his wont, yet it disordered me.", "Alas! I am forgetful of my duty,", "I should preserve my senses for your sake.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Nay, Beatrice; have courage, my sweet girl.", "If any one despairs it should be I", "Who loved him once, and now must live with him", "Till God in pity call for him or me.", "For you may, like your sister, find some husband,", "And smile, years hence, with children round your knees;", "Whilst I, then dead, and all this hideous coil", "Shall be remembered only as a dream.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Talk not to me, dear lady, of a husband.", "Did you not nurse me when my mother died?", "Did you not shield me and that dearest boy?", "And had we any other friend but you", "In infancy, with gentle words and looks,", "To win our father not to murder us?", "And shall I now desert you? May the ghost", "Of my dead Mother plead against my soul", "If I abandon her who filled the place", "She left, with more, even, than a mother's love!", "", "BERNARDO:", "And I am of my sister's mind. Indeed", "I would not leave you in this wretchedness,", "Even though the Pope should make me free to live", "In some blithe place, like others of my age,", "With sports, and delicate food, and the fresh air.", "Oh, never think that I will leave you, Mother!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "My dear, dear children!", "", "[ENTER CENCI, SUDDENLY.]", "", "CENCI:", "What! Beatrice here!", "Come hither!", "[SHE SHRINKS BACK, AND COVERS HER FACE.]", "Nay, hide not your face, 'tis fair;", "Look up! Why, yesternight you dared to look", "With disobedient insolence upon me,", "Bending a stern and an inquiring brow", "On what I meant; whilst I then sought to hide", "That which I came to tell you--but in vain.", "", "BEATRICE [WILDLY STAGGERING TOWARDS THE DOOR]:", "Oh, that the earth would gape! Hide me, O God!", "", "CENCI:", "Then it was I whose inarticulate words", "Fell from my lips, and who with tottering steps", "Fled from your presence, as you now from mine.", "Stay, I command you--from this day and hour", "Never again, I think, with fearless eye,", "And brow superior, and unaltered cheek,", "And that lip made for tenderness or scorn,", "Shalt thou strike dumb the meanest of mankind;", "Me least of all. Now get thee to thy chamber!", "Thou too, loathed image of thy cursed mother,", "[TO BERNARDO.]", "Thy milky, meek face makes me sick with hate!", "[EXEUNT BEATRICE AND BERNARDO.]", "[ASIDE.]", "So much has passed between us as must make", "Me bold, her fearful.--'Tis an awful thing", "To touch such mischief as I now conceive:", "So men sit shivering on the dewy bank,", "And try the chill stream with their feet; once in...", "How the delighted spirit pants for joy!", "", "LUCRETIA [ADVANCING TIMIDLY TOWARDS HIM]:", "O husband! Pray forgive poor Beatrice.", "She meant not any ill.", "", "CENCI:", "Nor you perhaps?", "Nor that young imp, whom you have taught by rote", "Parricide with his alphabet? Nor Giacomo?", "Nor those two most unnatural sons, who stirred", "Enmity up against me with the Pope?", "Whom in one night merciful God cut off:", "Innocent lambs! They thought not any ill.", "You were not here conspiring? You said nothing", "Of how I might be dungeoned as a madman;", "Or be condemned to death for some offence,", "And you would be the witnesses?--This failing,", "How just it were to hire assassins, or", "Put sudden poison in my evening drink?", "Or smother me when overcome by wine?", "Seeing we had no other judge but God,", "And He had sentenced me, and there were none", "But you to be the executioners", "Of His decree enregistered in heaven?", "Oh, no! You said not this?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "So help me God,", "I never thought the things you charge me with!", "", "CENCI:", "If you dare to speak that wicked lie again", "I'll kill you. What! It was not by your counsel", "That Beatrice disturbed the feast last night?", "You did not hope to stir some enemies", "Against me, and escape, and laugh to scorn", "What every nerve of you now trembles at?", "You judged that men were bolder than they are;", "Few dare to stand between their grave and me.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Look not so dreadfully! By my salvation", "I knew not aught that Beatrice designed;", "Nor do I think she designed any thing", "Until she heard you talk of her dead brothers.", "", "CENCI:", "Blaspheming liar! You are damned for this!", "But I will take you where you may persuade", "The stones you tread on to deliver you:", "For men shall there be none but those who dare", "All things--not question that which I command.", "On Wednesday next I shall set out: you know", "That savage rock, the Castle of Petrella:", "'Tis safely walled, and moated round about:", "Its dungeons underground, and its thick towers", "Never told tales; though they have heard and seen", "What might make dumb things speak.--Why do you linger?", "Make speediest preparation for the journey!", "[EXIT LUCRETIA.]", "The all-beholding sun yet shines; I hear", "A busy stir of men about the streets;", "I see the bright sky through the window panes:", "It is a garish, broad, and peering day;", "Loud, light, suspicious, full of eyes and ears,", "And every little corner, nook, and hole", "Is penetrated with the insolent light.", "Come darkness! Yet, what is the day to me?", "And wherefore should I wish for night, who do", "A deed which shall confound both night and day?", "'Tis she shall grope through a bewildering mist", "Of horror: if there be a sun in heaven", "She shall not dare to look upon its beams;", "Nor feel its warmth. Let her then wish for night;", "The act I think shall soon extinguish all", "For me: I bear a darker deadlier gloom", "Than the earth's shade, or interlunar air,", "Or constellations quenched in murkiest cloud,", "In which I walk secure and unbeheld", "Towards my purpose.--Would that it were done!", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "SCENE 2.2:", "A CHAMBER IN THE VATICAN.", "ENTER CAMILLO AND GIACOMO, IN CONVERSATION.", "", "CAMILLO:", "There is an obsolete and doubtful law", "By which you might obtain a bare provision", "Of food and clothing--", "", "GIACOMO:", "Nothing more? Alas!", "Bare must be the provision which strict law", "Awards, and aged, sullen avarice pays.", "Why did my father not apprentice me", "To some mechanic trade? I should have then", "Been trained in no highborn necessities", "Which I could meet not by my daily toil.", "The eldest son of a rich nobleman", "Is heir to all his incapacities;", "He has wide wants, and narrow powers. If you,", "Cardinal Camillo, were reduced at once", "From thrice-driven beds of down, and delicate food,", "An hundred servants, and six palaces,", "To that which nature doth indeed require?--", "", "CAMILLO:", "Nay, there is reason in your plea; 'twere hard.", "", "GIACOMO:", "'Tis hard for a firm man to bear: but I", "Have a dear wife, a lady of high birth,", "Whose dowry in ill hour I lent my father", "Without a bond or witness to the deed:", "And children, who inherit her fine senses,", "The fairest creatures in this breathing world;", "And she and they reproach me not. Cardinal,", "Do you not think the Pope would interpose", "And stretch authority beyond the law?", "", "CAMILLO:", "Though your peculiar case is hard, I know", "The Pope will not divert the course of law.", "After that impious feast the other night", "I spoke with him, and urged him then to check", "Your father's cruel hand; he frowned and said,", "'Children are disobedient, and they sting", "Their fathers' hearts to madness and despair,", "Requiting years of care with contumely.", "I pity the Count Cenci from my heart;", "His outraged love perhaps awakened hate,", "And thus he is exasperated to ill.", "In the great war between the old and young", "I, who have white hairs and a tottering body,", "Will keep at least blameless neutrality.'", "[ENTER ORSINO.]", "You, my good Lord Orsino, heard those words.", "", "ORSINO:", "What words?", "", "GIACOMO:", "Alas, repeat them not again!", "There then is no redress for me, at least", "None but that which I may achieve myself,", "Since I am driven to the brink.--But, say,", "My innocent sister and my only brother", "Are dying underneath my father's eye.", "The memorable torturers of this land,", "Galeaz Visconti, Borgia, Ezzelin,", "Never inflicted on their meanest slave", "What these endure; shall they have no protection?", "", "CAMILLO:", "Why, if they would petition to the Pope", "I see not how he could refuse it--yet", "He holds it of most dangerous example", "In aught to weaken the paternal power,", "Being, as 'twere, the shadow of his own.", "I pray you now excuse me. I have business", "That will not bear delay.", "", "[EXIT CAMILLO.]", "", "GIACOMO:", "But you, Orsino,", "Have the petition: wherefore not present it?", "", "ORSINO:", "I have presented it, and backed it with", "My earnest prayers, and urgent interest;", "It was returned unanswered. I doubt not", "But that the strange and execrable deeds", "Alleged in it--in truth they might well baffle", "Any belief--have turned the Pope's displeasure", "Upon the accusers from the criminal:", "So I should guess from what Camillo said.", "", "GIACOMO:", "My friend, that palace-walking devil Gold", "Has whispered silence to his Holiness:", "And we are left, as scorpions ringed with fire.", "What should we do but strike ourselves to death?", "For he who is our murderous persecutor", "Is shielded by a father's holy name,", "Or I would--", "", "[STOPS ABRUPTLY.]", "", "ORSINO:", "What? Fear not to speak your thought.", "Words are but holy as the deeds they cover:", "A priest who has forsworn the God he serves;", "A judge who makes Truth weep at his decree;", "A friend who should weave counsel, as I now,", "But as the mantle of some selfish guile;", "A father who is all a tyrant seems,", "Were the profaner for his sacred name.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Ask me not what I think; the unwilling brain", "Feigns often what it would not; and we trust", "Imagination with such fantasies", "As the tongue dares not fashion into words,", "Which have no words, their horror makes them dim", "To the mind's eye.--My heart denies itself", "To think what you demand.", "", "ORSINO:", "But a friend's bosom", "Is as the inmost cave of our own mind", "Where we sit shut from the wide gaze of day,", "And from the all-communicating air.", "You look what I suspected--", "", "GIACOMO:", "Spare me now!", "I am as one lost in a midnight wood,", "Who dares not ask some harmless passenger", "The path across the wilderness, lest he,", "As my thoughts are, should be--a murderer.", "I know you are my friend, and all I dare", "Speak to my soul that will I trust with thee.", "But now my heart is heavy, and would take", "Lone counsel from a night of sleepless care.", "Pardon me, that I say farewell--farewell!", "I would that to my own suspected self", "I could address a word so full of peace.", "", "ORSINO:", "Farewell!--Be your thoughts better or more bold.", "[EXIT GIACOMO.]", "I had disposed the Cardinal Camillo", "To feed his hope with cold encouragement:", "It fortunately serves my close designs", "That 'tis a trick of this same family", "To analyse their own and other minds.", "Such self-anatomy shall teach the will", "Dangerous secrets: for it tempts our powers,", "Knowing what must be thought, and may be done.", "Into the depth of darkest purposes:", "So Cenci fell into the pit; even I,", "Since Beatrice unveiled me to myself,", "And made me shrink from what I cannot shun,", "Show a poor figure to my own esteem,", "To which I grow half reconciled. I'll do", "As little mischief as I can; that thought", "Shall fee the accuser conscience.", "[AFTER A PAUSE.]", "Now what harm", "If Cenci should be murdered?--Yet, if murdered,", "Wherefore by me? And what if I could take", "The profit, yet omit the sin and peril", "In such an action? Of all earthly things", "I fear a man whose blows outspeed his words", "And such is Cenci: and while Cenci lives", "His daughter's dowry were a secret grave", "If a priest wins her.--Oh, fair Beatrice!", "Would that I loved thee not, or loving thee,", "Could but despise danger and gold and all", "That frowns between my wish and its effect.", "Or smiles beyond it! There is no escape...", "Her bright form kneels beside me at the altar,", "And follows me to the resort of men,", "And fills my slumber with tumultuous dreams,", "So when I wake my blood seems liquid fire;", "And if I strike my damp and dizzy head", "My hot palm scorches it: her very name,", "But spoken by a stranger, makes my heart", "Sicken and pant; and thus unprofitably", "I clasp the phantom of unfelt delights", "Till weak imagination half possesses", "The self-created shadow. Yet much longer", "Will I not nurse this life of feverous hours:", "From the unravelled hopes of Giacomo", "I must work out my own dear purposes.", "I see, as from a tower, the end of all:", "Her father dead; her brother bound to me", "By a dark secret, surer than the grave;", "Her mother scared and unexpostulating", "From the dread manner of her wish achieved;", "And she!--Once more take courage, my faint heart;", "What dares a friendless maiden matched with thee?", "I have such foresight as assures success:", "Some unbeheld divinity doth ever,", "When dread events are near, stir up men's minds", "To black suggestions; and he prospers best,", "Not who becomes the instrument of ill,", "But who can flatter the dark spirit, that makes", "Its empire and its prey of other hearts", "Till it become his slave...as I will do.", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "END OF ACT 2.", "", "ACT 3.", "", "SCENE 3.1:", "AN APARTMENT IN THE CENCI PALACE.", "LUCRETIA, TO HER ENTER BEATRICE.", "", "BEATRICE [SHE ENTERS STAGGERING AND SPEAKS WILDLY]:", "Reach me that handkerchief!--My brain is hurt;", "My eyes are full of blood; just wipe them for me...", "I see but indistinctly...", "", "LUCRETIA:", "My sweet child,", "You have no wound; 'tis only a cold dew", "That starts from your dear brow.--Alas! Alas!", "What has befallen?", "", "BEATRICE:", "How comes this hair undone?", "Its wandering strings must be what blind me so,", "And yet I tied it fast.--Oh, horrible!", "The pavement sinks under my feet! The walls", "Spin round! I see a woman weeping there,", "And standing calm and motionless, whilst I", "Slide giddily as the world reels...My God!", "The beautiful blue heaven is flecked with blood!", "The sunshine on the floor is black! The air", "Is changed to vapours such as the dead breathe", "In charnel pits! Pah! I am choked! There creeps", "A clinging, black, contaminating mist", "About me...'tis substantial, heavy, thick,", "I cannot pluck it from me, for it glues", "My fingers and my limbs to one another,", "And eats into my sinews, and dissolves", "My flesh to a pollution, poisoning", "The subtle, pure, and inmost spirit of life!", "My God! I never knew what the mad felt", "Before; for I am mad beyond all doubt!", "[MORE WILDLY.]", "No, I am dead! These putrefying limbs", "Shut round and sepulchre the panting soul", "Which would burst forth into the wandering air!", "[A PAUSE.]", "What hideous thought was that I had even now?", "'Tis gone; and yet its burthen remains here", "O'er these dull eyes...upon this weary heart!", "O, world! O, life! O, day! O, misery!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "What ails thee, my poor child? She answers not:", "Her spirit apprehends the sense of pain,", "But not its cause; suffering has dried away", "The source from which it sprung...", "", "BEATRICE [FRANTICLY]:", "Like Parricide...", "Misery has killed its father: yet its father", "Never like mine...O, God! What thing am I?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "My dearest child, what has your father done?", "", "BEATRICE [DOUBTFULLY]:", "Who art thou, questioner? I have no father.", "[ASIDE.]", "She is the madhouse nurse who tends on me,", "It is a piteous office.", "[TO LUCRETIA, IN A SLOW, SUBDUED VOICE.]", "Do you know", "I thought I was that wretched Beatrice", "Men speak of, whom her father sometimes hales", "From hall to hall by the entangled hair;", "At others, pens up naked in damp cells", "Where scaly reptiles crawl, and starves her there,", "Till she will eat strange flesh. This woful story", "So did I overact in my sick dreams,", "That I imagined...no, it cannot be!", "Horrible things have been in this wide world,", "Prodigious mixtures, and confusions strange", "Of good and ill; and worse have been conceived", "Than ever there was found a heart to do.", "But never fancy imaged such a deed", "As...", "[PAUSES, SUDDENLY RECOLLECTING HERSELF.]", "Who art thou? Swear to me, ere I die", "With fearful expectation, that indeed", "Thou art not what thou seemest...Mother!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh!", "My sweet child, know you...", "", "BEATRICE:", "Yet speak it not:", "For then if this be truth, that other too", "Must be a truth, a firm enduring truth,", "Linked with each lasting circumstance of life,", "Never to change, never to pass away.", "Why so it is. This is the Cenci Palace;", "Thou art Lucretia; I am Beatrice.", "I have talked some wild words, but will no more.", "Mother, come near me: from this point of time,", "I am...", "[HER VOICE DIES AWAY FAINTLY.]", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Alas! What has befallen thee, child?", "What has thy father done?", "", "BEATRICE:", "What have I done?", "Am I not innocent? Is it my crime", "That one with white hair, and imperious brow,", "Who tortured me from my forgotten years,", "As parents only dare, should call himself", "My father, yet should be!--Oh, what am I?", "What name, what place, what memory shall be mine?", "What retrospects, outliving even despair?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "He is a violent tyrant, surely, child:", "We know that death alone can make us free;", "His death or ours. But what can he have done", "Of deadlier outrage or worse injury?", "Thou art unlike thyself; thine eyes shoot forth", "A wandering and strange spirit. Speak to me,", "Unlock those pallid hands whose fingers twine", "With one another.", "", "BEATRICE:", "'Tis the restless life", "Tortured within them. If I try to speak,", "I shall go mad. Ay, something must be done;", "What, yet I know not...something which shall make", "The thing that I have suffered but a shadow", "In the dread lightning which avenges it;", "Brief, rapid, irreversible, destroying", "The consequence of what it cannot cure.", "Some such thing is to be endured or done:", "When I know what, I shall be still and calm,", "And never anything will move me more.", "But now!--O blood, which art my father's blood,", "Circling through these contaminated veins,", "If thou, poured forth on the polluted earth,", "Could wash away the crime, and punishment", "By which I suffer...no, that cannot be!", "Many might doubt there were a God above", "Who sees and permits evil, and so die:", "That faith no agony shall obscure in me.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "It must indeed have been some bitter wrong;", "Yet what, I dare not guess. Oh, my lost child,", "Hide not in proud impenetrable grief", "Thy sufferings from my fear.", "", "BEATRICE:", "I hide them not.", "What are the words which yon would have me speak?", "I, who can feign no image in my mind", "Of that which has transformed me: I, whose thought", "Is like a ghost shrouded and folded up", "In its own formless horror: of all words,", "That minister to mortal intercourse,", "Which wouldst thou hear? For there is none to tell", "My misery: if another ever knew", "Aught like to it, she died as I will die,", "And left it, as I must, without a name.", "Death, Death! Our law and our religion call thee", "A punishment and a reward...Oh, which", "Have I deserved?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "The peace of innocence;", "Till in your season you be called to heaven.", "Whate'er you may have suffered, you have done", "No evil. Death must be the punishment", "Of crime, or the reward of trampling down", "The thorns which God has strewed upon the path", "Which leads to immortality.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Ay, death...", "The punishment of crime. I pray thee, God,", "Let me not be bewildered while I judge.", "If I must live day after day, and keep", "These limbs, the unworthy temple of Thy spirit,", "As a foul den from which what Thou abhorrest", "May mock Thee, unavenged...it shall not be!", "Self-murder...no, that might be no escape,", "For Thy decree yawns like a Hell between", "Our will and it:--O! In this mortal world", "There is no vindication and no law", "Which can adjudge and execute the doom", "Of that through which I suffer.", "[ENTER ORSINO.]", "[SHE APPROACHES HIM SOLEMNLY.]", "Welcome, Friend!", "I have to tell you that, since last we met,", "I have endured a wrong so great and strange,", "That neither life nor death can give me rest.", "Ask me not what it is, for there are deeds", "Which have no form, sufferings which have no tongue.", "", "ORSINO:", "And what is he who has thus injured you?", "", "BEATRICE:", "The man they call my father: a dread name.", "", "ORSINO:", "It cannot be...", "", "BEATRICE:", "What it can be, or not,", "Forbear to think. It is, and it has been;", "Advise me how it shall not be again.", "I thought to die; but a religious awe", "Restrains me, and the dread lest death itself", "Might be no refuge from the consciousness", "Of what is yet unexpiated. Oh, speak!", "", "ORSINO:", "Accuse him of the deed, and let the law", "Avenge thee.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Oh, ice-hearted counsellor!", "If I could find a word that might make known", "The crime of my destroyer; and that done,", "My tongue should like a knife tear out the secret", "Which cankers my heart's core; ay, lay all bare,", "So that my unpolluted fame should be", "With vilest gossips a stale mouthed story;", "A mock, a byword, an astonishment:--", "If this were done, which never shall be done,", "Think of the offender's gold, his dreaded hate,", "And the strange horror of the accuser's tale,", "Baffling belief, and overpowering speech;", "Scarce whispered, unimaginable, wrapped", "In hideous hints...Oh, most assured redress!", "", "ORSINO:", "You will endure it then?", "", "BEATRICE:", "Endure!--Orsino,", "It seems your counsel is small profit.", "[TURNS FROM HIM, AND SPEAKS HALF TO HERSELF.]", "Ay,", "All must be suddenly resolved and done.", "What is this undistinguishable mist", "Of thoughts, which rise, like shadow after shadow,", "Darkening each other?", "", "ORSINO:", "Should the offender live?", "Triumph in his misdeed? and make, by use,", "His crime, whate'er it is, dreadful no doubt,", "Thine element; until thou mayest become", "Utterly lost; subdued even to the hue", "Of that which thou permittest?", "", "BEATRICE [TO HERSELF]:", "Mighty death!", "Thou double-visaged shadow! Only judge!", "Rightfullest arbiter!", "", "[SHE RETIRES, ABSORBED IN THOUGHT.]", "", "LUCRETIA:", "If the lightning", "Of God has e'er descended to avenge...", "", "ORSINO:", "Blaspheme not! His high Providence commits", "Its glory on this earth, and their own wrongs", "Into the hands of men; if they neglect", "To punish crime...", "", "LUCRETIA:", "But if one, like this wretch,", "Should mock, with gold, opinion, law, and power?", "If there be no appeal to that which makes", "The guiltiest tremble? If because our wrongs,", "For that they are unnatural, strange and monstrous,", "Exceed all measure of belief? O God!", "If, for the very reasons which should make", "Redress most swift and sure, our injurer triumphs?", "And we, the victims, bear worse punishment", "Than that appointed for their torturer?", "", "ORSINO:", "Think not", "But that there is redress where there is wrong,", "So we be bold enough to seize it.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "How?", "If there were any way to make all sure,", "I know not...but I think it might be good", "To...", "", "ORSINO:", "Why, his late outrage to Beatrice;", "For it is such, as I but faintly guess,", "As makes remorse dishonour, and leaves her", "Only one duty, how she may avenge:", "You, but one refuge from ills ill endured;", "Me, but one counsel...", "", "LUCRETIA:", "For we cannot hope", "That aid, or retribution, or resource", "Will arise thence, where every other one", "Might find them with less need.", "", "[BEATRICE ADVANCES.]", "", "ORSINO:", "Then...", "", "BEATRICE:", "Peace, Orsino!", "And, honoured Lady, while I speak, I pray,", "That you put off, as garments overworn,", "Forbearance and respect, remorse and fear,", "And all the fit restraints of daily life,", "Which have been borne from childhood, but which now", "Would be a mockery to my holier plea.", "As I have said, I have endured a wrong,", "Which, though it be expressionless, is such", "As asks atonement; both for what is past,", "And lest I be reserved, day after day,", "To load with crimes an overburthened soul,", "And be...what ye can dream not. I have prayed", "To God, and I have talked with my own heart,", "And have unravelled my entangled will,", "And have at length determined what is right.", "Art thou my friend, Orsino? False or true?", "Pledge thy salvation ere I speak.", "", "ORSINO:", "I swear", "To dedicate my cunning, and my strength,", "My silence, and whatever else is mine,", "To thy commands.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "You think we should devise", "His death?", "", "BEATRICE:", "And execute what is devised,", "And suddenly. We must be brief and bold.", "", "ORSINO:", "And yet most cautious.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "For the jealous laws", "Would punish us with death and infamy", "For that which it became themselves to do.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Be cautious as ye may, but prompt. Orsino,", "What are the means?", "", "ORSINO:", "I know two dull, fierce outlaws,", "Who think man's spirit as a worm's, and they", "Would trample out, for any slight caprice,", "The meanest or the noblest life. This mood", "Is marketable here in Rome. They sell", "What we now want.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "To-morrow before dawn,", "Cenci will take us to that lonely rock,", "Petrella, in the Apulian Apennines.", "If he arrive there...", "", "BEATRICE:", "He must not arrive.", "", "ORSINO:", "Will it be dark before you reach the tower?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "The sun will scarce be set.", "", "BEATRICE:", "But I remember", "Two miles on this side of the fort, the road", "Crosses a deep ravine; 'tis rough and narrow,", "And winds with short turns down the precipice;", "And in its depth there is a mighty rock,", "Which has, from unimaginable years,", "Sustained itself with terror and with toil", "Over a gulf, and with the agony", "With which it clings seems slowly coming down;", "Even as a wretched soul hour after hour,", "Clings to the mass of life; yet, clinging, leans;", "And leaning, makes more dark the dread abyss", "In which it fears to fall: beneath this crag", "Huge as despair, as if in weariness,", "The melancholy mountain yawns...below,", "You hear but see not an impetuous torrent", "Raging among the caverns, and a bridge", "Crosses the chasm; and high above there grow,", "With intersecting trunks, from crag to crag,", "Cedars, and yews, and pines; whose tangled hair", "Is matted in one solid roof of shade", "By the dark ivy's twine. At noonday here", "'Tis twilight, and at sunset blackest night.", "", "ORSINO:", "Before you reach that bridge make some excuse", "For spurring on your mules, or loitering", "Until...", "", "BEATRICE:", "What sound is that?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Hark! No, it cannot be a servant's step", "It must be Cenci, unexpectedly", "Returned...Make some excuse for being here.", "", "BEATRICE [TO ORSINO AS SHE GOES OUT]:", "That step we hear approach must never pass", "The bridge of which we spoke.", "", "[EXEUNT LUCRETIA AND BEATRICE.]", "", "ORSINO:", "What shall I do?", "Cenci must find me here, and I must bear", "The imperious inquisition of his looks", "As to what brought me hither: let me mask", "Mine own in some inane and vacant smile.", "[ENTER GIACOMO, IN A HURRIED MANNER.]", "How! Have you ventured hither? Know you then", "That Cenci is from home?", "", "GIACOMO:", "I sought him here;", "And now must wait till he returns.", "", "ORSINO:", "Great God!", "Weigh you the danger of this rashness?", "", "GIACOMO:", "Ay!", "Does my destroyer know his danger? We", "Are now no more, as once, parent and child,", "But man to man; the oppressor to the oppressed;", "The slanderer to the slandered; foe to foe:", "He has cast Nature off, which was his shield,", "And Nature casts him off, who is her shame;", "And I spurn both. Is it a father's throat", "Which I will shake, and say, I ask not gold;", "I ask not happy years; nor memories", "Of tranquil childhood; nor home-sheltered love;", "Though all these hast thou torn from me, and more;", "But only my fair fame; only one hoard", "Of peace, which I thought hidden from thy hate,", "Under the penury heaped on me by thee,", "Or I will...God can understand and pardon,", "Why should I speak with man?", "", "ORSINO:", "Be calm, dear friend.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Well, I will calmly tell you what he did.", "This old Francesco Cenci, as you know,", "Borrowed the dowry of my wife from me,", "And then denied the loan; and left me so", "In poverty, the which I sought to mend", "By holding a poor office in the state.", "It had been promised to me, and already", "I bought new clothing for my ragged babes,", "And my wife smiled; and my heart knew repose.", "When Cenci's intercession, as I found,", "Conferred this office on a wretch, whom thus", "He paid for vilest service. I returned", "With this ill news, and we sate sad together", "Solacing our despondency with tears", "Of such affection and unbroken faith", "As temper life's worst bitterness; when he,", "As he is wont, came to upbraid and curse,", "Mocking our poverty, and telling us", "Such was God's scourge for disobedient sons.", "And then, that I might strike him dumb with shame,", "I spoke of my wife's dowry; but he coined", "A brief yet specious tale, how I had wasted", "The sum in secret riot; and he saw", "My wife was touched, and he went smiling forth.", "And when I knew the impression he had made,", "And felt my wife insult with silent scorn", "My ardent truth, and look averse and cold,", "I went forth too: but soon returned again;", "Yet not so soon but that my wife had taught", "My children her harsh thoughts, and they all cried,", "'Give us clothes, father! Give us better food!", "What you in one night squander were enough", "For months!' I looked, and saw that home was hell.", "And to that hell will I return no more", "Until mine enemy has rendered up", "Atonement, or, as he gave life to me", "I will, reversing Nature's law...", "", "ORSINO:", "Trust me,", "The compensation which thou seekest here", "Will be denied.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Then...Are you not my friend?", "Did you not hint at the alternative,", "Upon the brink of which you see I stand,", "The other day when we conversed together?", "My wrongs were then less. That word parricide,", "Although I am resolved, haunts me like fear.", "", "ORSINO:", "It must be fear itself, for the bare word", "Is hollow mockery. Mark, how wisest God", "Draws to one point the threads of a just doom,", "So sanctifying it: what you devise", "Is, as it were, accomplished.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Is he dead?", "", "ORSINO:", "His grave is ready. Know that since we met", "Cenci has done an outrage to his daughter.", "", "GIACOMO:", "What outrage?", "", "ORSINO:", "That she speaks not, but you may", "Conceive such half conjectures as I do,", "From her fixed paleness, and the lofty grief", "Of her stern brow bent on the idle air,", "And her severe unmodulated voice,", "Drowning both tenderness and dread; and last", "From this; that whilst her step-mother and I,", "Bewildered in our horror, talked together", "With obscure hints; both self-misunderstood", "And darkly guessing, stumbling, in our talk,", "Over the truth, and yet to its revenge,", "She interrupted us, and with a look", "Which told, before she spoke it, he must die:...", "", "GIACOMO:", "It is enough. My doubts are well appeased;", "There is a higher reason for the act", "Than mine; there is a holier judge than me,", "A more unblamed avenger. Beatrice,", "Who in the gentleness of thy sweet youth", "Hast never trodden on a worm, or bruised", "A living flower, but thou hast pitied it", "With needless tears! Fair sister, thou in whom", "Men wondered how such loveliness and wisdom", "Did not destroy each other! Is there made", "Ravage of thee? O, heart, I ask no more", "Justification! Shall I wait, Orsino,", "Till he return, and stab him at the door?", "", "ORSINO:", "Not so; some accident might interpose", "To rescue him from what is now most sure;", "And you are unprovided where to fly,", "How to excuse or to conceal. Nay, listen:", "All is contrived; success is so assured", "That...", "", "[ENTER BEATRICE.]", "", "BEATRICE:", "'Tis my brother's voice! You know me not?", "", "GIACOMO:", "My sister, my lost sister!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Lost indeed!", "I see Orsino has talked with you, and", "That you conjecture things too horrible", "To speak, yet far less than the truth. Now, stay not,", "He might return: yet kiss me; I shall know", "That then thou hast consented to his death.", "Farewell, farewell! Let piety to God,", "Brotherly love, justice and clemency,", "And all things that make tender hardest hearts", "Make thine hard, brother. Answer not...farewell.", "", "[EXEUNT SEVERALLY.]", "", "SCENE 3.2:", "A MEAN APARTMENT IN GIACOMO'S HOUSE.", "GIACOMO ALONE.", "", "GIACOMO:", "'Tis midnight, and Orsino comes not yet.", "[THUNDER, AND THE SOUND OF A STORM.]", "What! can the everlasting elements", "Feel with a worm like man? If so, the shaft", "Of mercy-winged lightning would not fall", "On stones and trees. My wife and children sleep:", "They are now living in unmeaning dreams:", "But I must wake, still doubting if that deed", "Be just which is most necessary. O,", "Thou unreplenished lamp! whose narrow fire", "Is shaken by the wind, and on whose edge", "Devouring darkness hovers! Thou small flame,", "Which, as a dying pulse rises and falls,", "Still flickerest up and down, how very soon,", "Did I not feed thee, wouldst thou fail and be", "As thou hadst never been! So wastes and sinks", "Even now, perhaps, the life that kindled mine:", "But that no power can fill with vital oil", "That broken lamp of flesh. Ha! 'tis the blood", "Which fed these veins that ebbs till all is cold:", "It is the form that moulded mine that sinks", "Into the white and yellow spasms of death:", "It is the soul by which mine was arrayed", "In God's immortal likeness which now stands", "Naked before Heaven's judgement seat!", "[A BELL STRIKES.]", "One! Two!", "The hours crawl on; and, when my hairs are white,", "My son will then perhaps be waiting thus,", "Tortured between just hate and vain remorse;", "Chiding the tardy messenger of news", "Like those which I expect. I almost wish", "He be not dead, although my wrongs are great;", "Yet...'tis Orsino's step...", "[ENTER ORSINO.]", "Speak!", "", "ORSINO:", "I am come", "To say he has escaped.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Escaped!", "", "ORSINO:", "And safe", "Within Petrella. He passed by the spot", "Appointed for the deed an hour too soon.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Are we the fools of such contingencies?", "And do we waste in blind misgivings thus", "The hours when we should act? Then wind and thunder,", "Which seemed to howl his knell, is the loud laughter", "With which Heaven mocks our weakness! I henceforth", "Will ne'er repent of aught designed or done", "But my repentance.", "", "ORSINO:", "See, the lamp is out.", "", "GIACOMO:", "If no remorse is ours when the dim air", "Has drank this innocent flame, why should we quail", "When Cenci's life, that light by which ill spirits", "See the worst deeds they prompt, shall sink for ever?", "No, I am hardened.", "", "ORSINO:", "Why, what need of this?", "Who feared the pale intrusion of remorse", "In a just deed? Although our first plan failed,", "Doubt not but he will soon be laid to rest.", "But light the lamp; let us not talk i' the dark.", "", "GIACOMO [LIGHTING THE LAMP]:", "And yet once quenched I cannot thus relume", "My father's life: do you not think his ghost", "Might plead that argument with God?", "", "ORSINO:", "Once gone", "You cannot now recall your sister's peace;", "Your own extinguished years of youth and hope;", "Nor your wife's bitter words; nor all the taunts", "Which, from the prosperous, weak misfortune takes;", "Nor your dead mother; nor...", "", "GIACOMO:", "O, speak no more!", "I am resolved, although this very hand", "Must quench the life that animated it.", "", "ORSINO:", "There is no need of that. Listen: you know", "Olimpio, the castellan of Petrella", "In old Colonna's time; him whom your father", "Degraded from his post? And Marzio,", "That desperate wretch, whom he deprived last year", "Of a reward of blood, well earned and due?", "", "GIACOMO:", "I knew Olimpio; and they say he hated", "Old Cenci so, that in his silent rage", "His lips grew white only to see him pass.", "Of Marzio I know nothing.", "", "ORSINO:", "Marzio's hate", "Matches Olimpio's. I have sent these men,", "But in your name, and as at your request,", "To talk with Beatrice and Lucretia.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Only to talk?", "", "ORSINO:", "The moments which even now", "Pass onward to to-morrow's midnight hour", "May memorize their flight with death: ere then", "They must have talked, and may perhaps have done,", "And made an end...", "", "GIACOMO:", "Listen! What sound is that?", "", "ORSINO:", "The house-dog moans, and the beams crack: nought else.", "", "GIACOMO:", "It is my wife complaining in her sleep:", "I doubt not she is saying bitter things", "Of me; and all my children round her dreaming", "That I deny them sustenance.", "", "ORSINO:", "Whilst he", "Who truly took it from them, and who fills", "Their hungry rest with bitterness, now sleeps", "Lapped in bad pleasures, and triumphantly", "Mocks thee in visions of successful hate", "Too like the truth of day.", "", "GIACOMO:", "If e'er he wakes", "Again, I will not trust to hireling hands...", "", "ORSINO:", "Why, that were well. I must be gone; good-night.", "When next we meet--may all be done!", "", "GIACOMO:", "And all", "Forgotten: Oh, that I had never been!", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "END OF ACT 3.", "", "ACT 4.", "", "SCENE 4.1:", "AN APARTMENT IN THE CASTLE OF PETRELLA.", "ENTER CENCI.", "", "CENCI:", "She comes not; yet I left her even now", "Vanquished and faint. She knows the penalty", "Of her delay: yet what if threats are vain?", "Am I not now within Petrella's moat?", "Or fear I still the eyes and ears of Rome?", "Might I not drag her by the golden hair?", "Stamp on her? keep her sleepless till her brain", "Be overworn? Tame her with chains and famine?", "Less would suffice. Yet so to leave undone", "What I most seek! No, 'tis her stubborn will", "Which by its own consent shall stoop as low", "As that which drags it down.", "[ENTER LUCRETIA.]", "Thou loathed wretch!", "Hide thee from my abhorrence: fly, begone!", "Yet stay! Bid Beatrice come hither.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh,", "Husband! I pray, for thine own wretched sake", "Heed what thou dost. A man who walks like thee", "Through crimes, and through the danger of his crimes,", "Each hour may stumble o'er a sudden grave.", "And thou art old; thy hairs are hoary gray;", "As thou wouldst save thyself from death and hell,", "Pity thy daughter; give her to some friend", "In marriage: so that she may tempt thee not", "To hatred, or worse thoughts, if worse there be.", "", "CENCI:", "What! like her sister who has found a home", "To mock my hate from with prosperity?", "Strange ruin shall destroy both her and thee", "And all that yet remain. My death may be", "Rapid, her destiny outspeeds it. Go,", "Bid her come hither, and before my mood", "Be changed, lest I should drag her by the hair.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "She sent me to thee, husband. At thy presence", "She fell, as thou dost know, into a trance;", "And in that trance she heard a voice which said,", "'Cenci must die! Let him confess himself!", "Even now the accusing Angel waits to hear", "If God, to punish his enormous crimes,", "Harden his dying heart!'", "", "CENCI:", "Why--such things are...", "No doubt divine revealings may be made.", "'Tis plain I have been favoured from above,", "For when I cursed my sons they died.--Ay...so...", "As to the right or wrong, that's talk...repentance...", "Repentance is an easy moment's work", "And more depends on God than me. Well...well...", "I must give up the greater point, which was", "To poison and corrupt her soul.", "[A PAUSE, LUCRETIA APPROACHES ANXIOUSLY,", "AND THEN SHRINKS BACK AS HE SPEAKS.]", "One, two;", "Ay...Rocco and Cristofano my curse", "Strangled: and Giacomo, I think, will find", "Life a worse Hell than that beyond the grave:", "Beatrice shall, if there be skill in hate,", "Die in despair, blaspheming: to Bernardo,", "He is so innocent, I will bequeath", "The memory of these deeds, and make his youth", "The sepulchre of hope, where evil thoughts", "Shall grow like weeds on a neglected tomb.", "When all is done, out in the wide Campagna,", "I will pile up my silver and my gold;", "My costly robes, paintings, and tapestries;", "My parchments and all records of my wealth,", "And make a bonfire in my joy, and leave", "Of my possessions nothing but my name;", "Which shall be an inheritance to strip", "Its wearer bare as infamy. That done,", "My soul, which is a scourge, will I resign", "Into the hands of him who wielded it;", "Be it for its own punishment or theirs,", "He will not ask it of me till the lash", "Be broken in its last and deepest wound;", "Until its hate be all inflicted. Yet,", "Lest death outspeed my purpose, let me make", "Short work and sure...", "", "[GOING.]", "", "LUCRETIA [STOPS HIM]:", "Oh, stay! It was a feint:", "She had no vision, and she heard no voice.", "I said it but to awe thee.", "", "CENCI:", "That is well.", "Vile palterer with the sacred truth of God,", "Be thy soul choked with that blaspheming lie!", "For Beatrice worse terrors are in store", "To bend her to my will.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh! to what will?", "What cruel sufferings more than she has known", "Canst thou inflict?", "", "CENCI:", "Andrea! Go call my daughter,", "And if she comes not tell her that I come.", "What sufferings? I will drag her, step by step,", "Through infamies unheard of among men:", "She shall stand shelterless in the broad noon", "Of public scorn, for acts blazoned abroad,", "One among which shall be...What? Canst thou guess?", "She shall become (for what she most abhors", "Shall have a fascination to entrap", "Her loathing will) to her own conscious self", "All she appears to others; and when dead,", "As she shall die unshrived and unforgiven,", "A rebel to her father and her God,", "Her corpse shall be abandoned to the hounds;", "Her name shall be the terror of the earth;", "Her spirit shall approach the throne of God", "Plague-spotted with my curses. I will make", "Body and soul a monstrous lump of ruin.", "", "[ENTER ANDREA.]", "", "ANDREA:", "The Lady Beatrice...", "", "CENCI:", "Speak, pale slave! What", "Said she?", "", "ANDREA:", "My Lord, 'twas what she looked; she said:", "'Go tell my father that I see the gulf", "Of Hell between us two, which he may pass,", "I will not.'", "", "[EXIT ANDREA.]", "", "CENCI:", "Go thou quick, Lucretia,", "Tell her to come; yet let her understand", "Her coming is consent: and say, moreover,", "That if she come not I will curse her.", "[EXIT LUCRETIA.]", "Ha!", "With what but with a father's curse doth God", "Panic-strike armed victory, and make pale", "Cities in their prosperity? The world's Father", "Must grant a parent's prayer against his child,", "Be he who asks even what men call me.", "Will not the deaths of her rebellious brothers", "Awe her before I speak? For I on them", "Did imprecate quick ruin, and it came.", "[ENTER LUCRETIA.]", "Well; what? Speak, wretch!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "She said, 'I cannot come;", "Go tell my father that I see a torrent", "Of his own blood raging between us.'", "", "CENCI [KNEELING]:", "God,", "Hear me! If this most specious mass of flesh,", "Which Thou hast made my daughter; this my blood,", "This particle of my divided being;", "Or rather, this my bane and my disease,", "Whose sight infects and poisons me; this devil", "Which sprung from me as from a hell, was meant", "To aught good use; if her bright loveliness", "Was kindled to illumine this dark world;", "If nursed by Thy selectest dew of love", "Such virtues blossom in her as should make", "The peace of life, I pray Thee for my sake,", "As Thou the common God and Father art", "Of her, and me, and all; reverse that doom!", "Earth, in the name of God, let her food be", "Poison, until she be encrusted round", "With leprous stains! Heaven, rain upon her head", "The blistering drops of the Maremma's dew,", "Till she be speckled like a toad; parch up", "Those love-enkindled lips, warp those fine limbs", "To loathed lameness! All-beholding sun,", "Strike in thine envy those life-darting eyes", "With thine own blinding beams!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Peace! Peace!", "For thine own sake unsay those dreadful words.", "When high God grants He punishes such prayers.", "", "CENCI [LEAPING UP, AND THROWING HIS RIGHT HAND TOWARDS HEAVEN]:", "He does his will, I mine! This in addition,", "That if she have a child...", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Horrible thought!", "", "CENCI:", "That if she ever have a child; and thou,", "Quick Nature! I adjure thee by thy God,", "That thou be fruitful in her, and increase", "And multiply, fulfilling his command,", "And my deep imprecation! May it be", "A hideous likeness of herself, that as", "From a distorting mirror, she may see", "Her image mixed with what she most abhors,", "Smiling upon her from her nursing breast.", "And that the child may from its infancy", "Grow, day by day, more wicked and deformed,", "Turning her mother's love to misery:", "And that both she and it may live until", "It shall repay her care and pain with hate,", "Or what may else be more unnatural.", "So he may hunt her through the clamorous scoffs", "Of the loud world to a dishonoured grave.", "Shall I revoke this curse? Go, bid her come,", "Before my words are chronicled in Heaven.", "[EXIT LUCRETIA.]", "I do not feel as if I were a man,", "But like a fiend appointed to chastise", "The offences of some unremembered world.", "My blood is running up and down my veins;", "A fearful pleasure makes it prick and tingle:", "I feel a giddy sickness of strange awe;", "My heart is beating with an expectation", "Of horrid joy.", "[ENTER LUCRETIA.]", "What? Speak!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "She bids thee curse;", "And if thy curses, as they cannot do,", "Could kill her soul...", "", "CENCI:", "She would not come. 'Tis well,", "I can do both; first take what I demand,", "And then extort concession. To thy chamber!", "Fly ere I spurn thee; and beware this night", "That thou cross not my footsteps. It were safer", "To come between the tiger and his prey.", "[EXIT LUCRETIA.]", "It must be late; mine eyes grow weary dim", "With unaccustomed heaviness of sleep.", "Conscience! Oh, thou most insolent of lies!", "They say that sleep, that healing dew of Heaven,", "Steeps not in balm the foldings of the brain", "Which thinks thee an impostor. I will go", "First to belie thee with an hour of rest,", "Which will be deep and calm, I feel: and then...", "O, multitudinous Hell, the fiends will shake", "Thine arches with the laughter of their joy!", "There shall be lamentation heard in Heaven", "As o'er an angel fallen; and upon Earth", "All good shall droop and sicken, and ill things", "Shall with a spirit of unnatural life,", "Stir and be quickened...even as I am now.", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "SCENE 4.2:", "BEFORE THE CASTLE OF PETRELLA.", "ENTER BEATRICE AND LUCRETIA ABOVE ON THE RAMPARTS.", "", "BEATRICE:", "They come not yet.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "'Tis scarce midnight.", "", "BEATRICE:", "How slow", "Behind the course of thought, even sick with speed,", "Lags leaden-footed time!", "", "LUCRETIA:", "The minutes pass...", "If he should wake before the deed is done?", "", "BEATRICE:", "O, mother! He must never wake again.", "What thou hast said persuades me that our act", "Will but dislodge a spirit of deep hell", "Out of a human form.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "'Tis true he spoke", "Of death and judgement with strange confidence", "For one so wicked; as a man believing", "In God, yet recking not of good or ill.", "And yet to die without confession!...", "", "BEATRICE:", "Oh!", "Believe that Heaven is merciful and just,", "And will not add our dread necessity", "To the amount of his offences.", "", "[ENTER OLIMPIO AND MARZIO BELOW.]", "", "LUCRETIA:", "See,", "They come.", "", "BEATRICE:", "All mortal things must hasten thus", "To their dark end. Let us go down.", "", "[EXEUNT LUCRETIA AND BEATRICE FROM ABOVE.]", "", "OLIMPIO:", "How feel you to this work?", "", "MARZIO:", "As one who thinks", "A thousand crowns excellent market price", "For an old murderer's life. Your cheeks are pale.", "", "OLIMPIO:", "It is the white reflection of your own,", "Which you call pale.", "", "MARZIO:", "Is that their natural hue?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Or 'tis my hate and the deferred desire", "To wreak it, which extinguishes their blood.", "", "MARZIO:", "You are inclined then to this business?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Ay,", "If one should bribe me with a thousand crowns", "To kill a serpent which had stung my child,", "I could not be more willing.", "[ENTER BEATRICE AND LUCRETIA BELOW.]", "Noble ladies!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Are ye resolved?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Is he asleep?", "", "MARZIO:", "Is all", "Quiet?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "I mixed an opiate with his drink:", "He sleeps so soundly...", "", "BEATRICE:", "That his death will be", "But as a change of sin-chastising dreams,", "A dark continuance of the Hell within him,", "Which God extinguish! But ye are resolved?", "Ye know it is a high and holy deed?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "We are resolved.", "", "MARZIO:", "As to the how this act", "Be warranted, it rests with you.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Well, follow!", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Hush! Hark! What noise is that?", "", "MARZIO:", "Ha! some one comes!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Ye conscience-stricken cravens, rock to rest", "Your baby hearts. It is the iron gate,", "Which ye left open, swinging to the wind,", "That enters whistling as in scorn. Come, follow!", "And be your steps like mine, light, quick and bold.", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "SCENE 4.3:", "AN APARTMENT IN THE CASTLE.", "ENTER BEATRICE AND LUCRETIA.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "They are about it now.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Nay, it is done.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "I have not heard him groan.", "", "BEATRICE:", "He will not groan.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "What sound is that?", "", "BEATRICE:", "List! 'tis the tread of feet", "About his bed.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "My God!", "If he be now a cold, stiff corpse...", "", "BEATRICE:", "O, fear not", "What may be done, but what is left undone:", "The act seals all.", "[ENTER OLIMPIO AND MARZIO.]", "Is it accomplished?", "", "MARZIO:", "What?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Did you not call?", "", "BEATRICE:", "When?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Now.", "", "BEATRICE:", "I ask if all is over?", "", "OLIMPIO:", "We dare not kill an old and sleeping man;", "His thin gray hair, his stern and reverend brow,", "His veined hands crossed on his heaving breast,", "And the calm innocent sleep in which he lay,", "Quelled me. Indeed, indeed, I cannot do it.", "", "MARZIO:", "But I was bolder; for I chid Olimpio,", "And bade him bear his wrongs to his own grave", "And leave me the reward. And now my knife", "Touched the loose wrinkled throat, when the old man", "Stirred in his sleep, and said, 'God! hear, O, hear,", "A father's curse! What, art Thou not our Father?'", "And then he laughed. I knew it was the ghost", "Of my dead father speaking through his lips,", "And could not kill him.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Miserable slaves!", "Where, if ye dare not kill a sleeping man,", "Found ye the boldness to return to me", "With such a deed undone? Base palterers!", "Cowards and traitors! Why, the very conscience", "Which ye would sell for gold and for revenge", "Is an equivocation: it sleeps over", "A thousand daily acts disgracing men;", "And when a deed where mercy insults Heaven...", "Why do I talk?", "[SNATCHING A DAGGER FROM ONE OF THEM, AND RAISING IT.]", "Hadst thou a tongue to say,", "'She murdered her own father!'--I must do it!", "But never dream ye shall outlive him long!", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Stop, for God's sake!", "", "MARZIO:", "I will go back and kill him.", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Give me the weapon, we must do thy will.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Take it! Depart! Return!", "[EXEUNT OLIMPIO AND MARZIO.]", "How pale thou art!", "We do but that which 'twere a deadly crime", "To leave undone.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Would it were done!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Even whilst", "That doubt is passing through your mind, the world", "Is conscious of a change. Darkness and Hell", "Have swallowed up the vapour they sent forth", "To blacken the sweet light of life. My breath", "Comes, methinks, lighter, and the jellied blood", "Runs freely through my veins. Hark!", "[ENTER OLIMPIO AND MARZIO.]", "He is...", "", "OLIMPIO:", "Dead!", "", "MARZIO:", "We strangled him that there might be no blood;", "And then we threw his heavy corpse i' the garden", "Under the balcony; 'twill seem it fell.", "", "BEATRICE [GIVING THEM A BAG OF COIN]:", "Here, take this gold, and hasten to your homes.", "And, Marzio, because thou wast only awed", "By that which made me tremble, wear thou this!", "[CLOTHES HIM IN A RICH MANTLE.]", "It was the mantle which my grandfather", "Wore in his high prosperity, and men", "Envied his state: so may they envy thine.", "Thou wert a weapon in the hand of God", "To a just use. Live long and thrive! And, mark,", "If thou hast crimes, repent: this deed is none.", "", "[A HORN IS SOUNDED.]", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Hark, 'tis the castle horn: my God! it sounds", "Like the last trump.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Some tedious guest is coming.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "The drawbridge is let down; there is a tramp", "Of horses in the court; fly, hide yourselves!", "", "[EXEUNT OLIMPIO AND MARZIO.]", "", "BEATRICE:", "Let us retire to counterfeit deep rest;", "I scarcely need to counterfeit it now:", "The spirit which doth reign within these limbs", "Seems strangely undisturbed. I could even sleep", "Fearless and calm: all ill is surely past.", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "SCENE 4.4:", "ANOTHER APARTMENT IN THE CASTLE.", "ENTER ON ONE SIDE THE LEGATE SAVELLA,", "INTRODUCED BY A SERVANT,", "AND ON THE OTHER LUCRETIA AND BERNARDO.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Lady, my duty to his Holiness", "Be my excuse that thus unseasonably", "I break upon your rest. I must speak with", "Count Cenci; doth he sleep?", "", "LUCRETIA [IN A HURRIED AND CONFUSED MANNER]:", "I think he sleeps;", "Yet, wake him not, I pray, spare me awhile,", "He is a wicked and a wrathful man;", "Should he be roused out of his sleep to-night,", "Which is, I know, a hell of angry dreams,", "It were not well; indeed it were not well.", "Wait till day break...", "[ASIDE.]", "Oh, I am deadly sick!", "", "SAVELLA:", "I grieve thus to distress you, but the Count", "Must answer charges of the gravest import,", "And suddenly; such my commission is.", "", "LUCRETIA [WITH INCREASED AGITATION]:", "I dare not rouse him: I know none who dare...", "'Twere perilous;...you might as safely waken", "A serpent; or a corpse in which some fiend", "Were laid to sleep.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Lady, my moments here", "Are counted. I must rouse him from his sleep,", "Since none else dare.", "", "LUCRETIA [ASIDE]:", "O, terror! O, despair!", "[TO BERNARDO.]", "Bernardo, conduct you the Lord Legate to", "Your father's chamber.", "", "[EXEUNT SAVELLA AND BERNARDO.]", "", "[ENTER BEATRICE.]", "", "BEATRICE:", "'Tis a messenger", "Come to arrest the culprit who now stands", "Before the throne of unappealable God.", "Both Earth and Heaven, consenting arbiters,", "Acquit our deed.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh, agony of fear!", "Would that he yet might live! Even now I heard", "The Legate's followers whisper as they passed", "They had a warrant for his instant death.", "All was prepared by unforbidden means", "Which we must pay so dearly, having done.", "Even now they search the tower, and find the body;", "Now they suspect the truth; now they consult", "Before they come to tax us with the fact;", "O, horrible, 'tis all discovered!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Mother,", "What is done wisely, is done well. Be bold", "As thou art just. 'Tis like a truant child", "To fear that others know what thou hast done,", "Even from thine own strong consciousness, and thus", "Write on unsteady eyes and altered cheeks", "All thou wouldst hide. Be faithful to thyself,", "And fear no other witness but thy fear.", "For if, as cannot be, some circumstance", "Should rise in accusation, we can blind", "Suspicion with such cheap astonishment,", "Or overbear it with such guiltless pride,", "As murderers cannot feign. The deed is done,", "And what may follow now regards not me.", "I am as universal as the light;", "Free as the earth-surrounding air; as firm", "As the world's centre. Consequence, to me,", "Is as the wind which strikes the solid rock,", "But shakes it not.", "", "[A CRY WITHIN AND TUMULT.]", "", "VOICES:", "Murder! Murder! Murder!", "", "[ENTER BERNARDO AND SAVELLA.]", "", "SAVELLA [TO HIS FOLLOWERS]:", "Go search the castle round; sound the alarm;", "Look to the gates, that none escape!", "", "BEATRICE:", "What now?", "", "BERNARDO:", "I know not what to say...my father's dead.", "", "BEATRICE:", "How; dead! he only sleeps; you mistake, brother.", "His sleep is very calm, very like death;", "'Tis wonderful how well a tyrant sleeps.", "He is not dead?", "", "BERNARDO:", "Dead; murdered.", "", "LUCRETIA [WITH EXTREME AGITATION]:", "Oh no, no!", "He is not murdered though he may be dead;", "I have alone the keys of those apartments.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Ha! Is it so?", "", "BEATRICE:", "My Lord, I pray excuse us;", "We will retire; my mother is not well:", "She seems quite overcome with this strange horror.", "", "[EXEUNT LUCRETIA AND BEATRICE.]", "", "SAVELLA:", "Can you suspect who may have murdered him?", "", "BERNARDO:", "I know not what to think.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Can you name any", "Who had an interest in his death?", "", "BERNARDO:", "Alas!", "I can name none who had not, and those most", "Who most lament that such a deed is done;", "My mother, and my sister, and myself.", "", "SAVELLA:", "'Tis strange! There were clear marks of violence.", "I found the old man's body in the moonlight", "Hanging beneath the window of his chamber,", "Among the branches of a pine: he could not", "Have fallen there, for all his limbs lay heaped", "And effortless; 'tis true there was no blood...", "Favour me, Sir; it much imports your house", "That all should be made clear; to tell the ladies", "That I request their presence.", "", "[EXIT BERNARDO.]", "", "[ENTER GUARDS, BRINGING IN MARZIO.]", "", "GUARD:", "We have one.", "", "OFFICER:", "My Lord, we found this ruffian and another", "Lurking among the rocks; there is no doubt", "But that they are the murderers of Count Cenci:", "Each had a bag of coin; this fellow wore", "A gold-inwoven robe, which, shining bright", "Under the dark rocks to the glimmering moon", "Betrayed them to our notice: the other fell", "Desperately fighting.", "", "SAVELLA:", "What does he confess?", "", "OFFICER:", "He keeps firm silence; but these lines found on him", "May speak.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Their language is at least sincere.", "[READS.]", "'To the Lady Beatrice.", "That the atonement of what my nature sickens to conjecture may soon", "arrive, I send thee, at thy brother's desire, those who will speak and", "do more than I dare write...", "'Thy devoted servant, Orsino.'", "[ENTER LUCRETIA, BEATRICE, AND BERNARDO.]", "Knowest thou this writing, Lady?", "", "BEATRICE:", "No.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Nor thou?", "", "LUCRETIA [HER CONDUCT THROUGHOUT THE SCENE IS MARKED BY EXTREME AGITATION]:", "Where was it found? What is it? It should be", "Orsino's hand! It speaks of that strange horror", "Which never yet found utterance, but which made", "Between that hapless child and her dead father", "A gulf of obscure hatred.", "", "SAVELLA:", "Is it so?", "Is it true, Lady, that thy father did", "Such outrages as to awaken in thee", "Unfilial hate?", "", "BEATRICE:", "Not hate, 'twas more than hate:", "This is most true, yet wherefore question me?", "", "SAVELLA:", "There is a deed demanding question done;", "Thou hast a secret which will answer not.", "", "BEATRICE:", "What sayest? My Lord, your words are bold and rash.", "", "SAVELLA:", "I do arrest all present in the name", "Of the Pope's Holiness. You must to Rome.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "O, not to Rome! Indeed we are not guilty.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Guilty! Who dares talk of guilt? My Lord,", "I am more innocent of parricide", "Than is a child born fatherless...Dear mother,", "Your gentleness and patience are no shield", "For this keen-judging world, this two-edged lie,", "Which seems, but is not. What! will human laws,", "Rather will ye who are their ministers,", "Bar all access to retribution first,", "And then, when Heaven doth interpose to do", "What ye neglect, arming familiar things", "To the redress of an unwonted crime,", "Make ye the victims who demanded it", "Culprits? 'Tis ye are culprits! That poor wretch", "Who stands so pale, and trembling, and amazed,", "If it be true he murdered Cenci, was", "A sword in the right hand of justest God.", "Wherefore should I have wielded it? Unless", "The crimes which mortal tongue dare never name", "God therefore scruples to avenge.", "", "SAVELLA:", "You own", "That you desired his death?", "", "BEATRICE:", "It would have been", "A crime no less than his, if for one moment", "That fierce desire had faded in my heart.", "'Tis true I did believe, and hope, and pray,", "Ay, I even knew...for God is wise and just,", "That some strange sudden death hung over him.", "'Tis true that this did happen, and most true", "There was no other rest for me on earth,", "No other hope in Heaven...now what of this?", "", "SAVELLA:", "Strange thoughts beget strange deeds; and here are both:", "I judge thee not.", "", "BEATRICE:", "And yet, if you arrest me,", "You are the judge and executioner", "Of that which is the life of life: the breath", "Of accusation kills an innocent name,", "And leaves for lame acquittal the poor life", "Which is a mask without it. 'Tis most false", "That I am guilty of foul parricide;", "Although I must rejoice, for justest cause,", "That other hands have sent my father's soul", "To ask the mercy he denied to me.", "Now leave us free; stain not a noble house", "With vague surmises of rejected crime;", "Add to our sufferings and your own neglect", "No heavier sum: let them have been enough:", "Leave us the wreck we have.", "", "SAVELLA:", "I dare not, Lady.", "I pray that you prepare yourselves for Rome:", "There the Pope's further pleasure will be known.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "O, not to Rome! O, take us not to Rome!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Why not to Rome, dear mother? There as here", "Our innocence is as an armed heel", "To trample accusation. God is there", "As here, and with His shadow ever clothes", "The innocent, the injured and the weak;", "And such are we. Cheer up, dear Lady, lean", "On me; collect your wandering thoughts. My Lord,", "As soon as you have taken some refreshment,", "And had all such examinations made", "Upon the spot, as may be necessary", "To the full understanding of this matter,", "We shall be ready. Mother; will you come?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Ha! they will bind us to the rack, and wrest", "Self-accusation from our agony!", "Will Giacomo be there? Orsino? Marzio?", "All present; all confronted; all demanding", "Each from the other's countenance the thing", "Which is in every heart! O, misery!", "", "[SHE FAINTS, AND IS BORNE OUT.]", "", "SAVELLA:", "She faints: an ill appearance this.", "", "BEATRICE:", "My Lord,", "She knows not yet the uses of the world.", "She fears that power is as a beast which grasps", "And loosens not: a snake whose look transmutes", "All things to guilt which is its nutriment.", "She cannot know how well the supine slaves", "Of blind authority read the truth of things", "When written on a brow of guilelessness:", "She sees not yet triumphant Innocence", "Stand at the judgement-seat of mortal man,", "A judge and an accuser of the wrong", "Which drags it there. Prepare yourself, my Lord;", "Our suite will join yours in the court below.", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "END OF ACT 4.", "", "ACT 5.", "", "SCENE 5.1:", "AN APARTMENT IN ORSINO'S PALACE.", "ENTER ORSINO AND GIACOMO.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Do evil deeds thus quickly come to end?", "O, that the vain remorse which must chastise", "Crimes done, had but as loud a voice to warn", "As its keen sting is mortal to avenge!", "O, that the hour when present had cast off", "The mantle of its mystery, and shown", "The ghastly form with which it now returns", "When its scared game is roused, cheering the hounds", "Of conscience to their prey! Alas! Alas!", "It was a wicked thought, a piteous deed,", "To kill an old and hoary-headed father.", "", "ORSINO:", "It has turned out unluckily, in truth.", "", "GIACOMO:", "To violate the sacred doors of sleep;", "To cheat kind Nature of the placid death", "Which she prepares for overwearied age;", "To drag from Heaven an unrepentant soul", "Which might have quenched in reconciling prayers", "A life of burning crimes...", "", "ORSINO:", "You cannot say", "I urged you to the deed.", "", "GIACOMO:", "O, had I never", "Found in thy smooth and ready countenance", "The mirror of my darkest thoughts; hadst thou", "Never with hints and questions made me look", "Upon the monster of my thought, until", "It grew familiar to desire...", "", "ORSINO:", "'Tis thus", "Men cast the blame of their unprosperous acts", "Upon the abettors of their own resolve;", "Or anything but their weak, guilty selves.", "And yet, confess the truth, it is the peril", "In which you stand that gives you this pale sickness", "Of penitence; confess 'tis fear disguised", "From its own shame that takes the mantle now", "Of thin remorse. What if we yet were safe?", "", "GIACOMO:", "How can that be? Already Beatrice,", "Lucretia and the murderer are in prison.", "I doubt not officers are, whilst we speak,", "Sent to arrest us.", "", "ORSINO:", "I have all prepared", "For instant flight. We can escape even now,", "So we take fleet occasion by the hair.", "", "GIACOMO:", "Rather expire in tortures, as I may.", "What! will you cast by self-accusing flight", "Assured conviction upon Beatrice?", "She, who alone in this unnatural work,", "Stands like God's angel ministered upon", "By fiends; avenging such a nameless wrong", "As turns black parricide to piety;", "Whilst we for basest ends...I fear, Orsino,", "While I consider all your words and looks,", "Comparing them with your proposal now,", "That you must be a villain. For what end", "Could you engage in such a perilous crime,", "Training me on with hints, and signs, and smiles,", "Even to this gulf? Thou art no liar? No,", "Thou art a lie! Traitor and murderer!", "Coward and slave! But no, defend thyself;", "[DRAWING.]", "Let the sword speak what the indignant tongue", "Disdains to brand thee with.", "", "ORSINO:", "Put up your weapon.", "Is it the desperation of your fear", "Makes you thus rash and sudden with a friend,", "Now ruined for your sake? If honest anger", "Have moved you, know, that what I just proposed", "Was but to try you. As for me, I think,", "Thankless affection led me to this point,", "From which, if my firm temper could repent,", "I cannot now recede. Even whilst we speak", "The ministers of justice wait below:", "They grant me these brief moments. Now if you", "Have any word of melancholy comfort", "To speak to your pale wife, 'twere best to pass", "Out at the postern, and avoid them so.", "", "GIACOMO:", "O, generous friend! How canst thou pardon me?", "Would that my life could purchase thine!", "", "ORSINO:", "That wish", "Now comes a day too late. Haste; fare thee well!", "Hear'st thou not steps along the corridor?", "[EXIT GIACOMO.]", "I'm sorry for it; but the guards are waiting", "At his own gate, and such was my contrivance", "That I might rid me both of him and them.", "I thought to act a solemn comedy", "Upon the painted scene of this new world,", "And to attain my own peculiar ends", "By some such plot of mingled good and ill", "As others weave; but there arose a Power", "Which grasped and snapped the threads of my device", "And turned it to a net of ruin...Ha!", "[A SHOUT IS HEARD.]", "Is that my name I hear proclaimed abroad?", "But I will pass, wrapped in a vile disguise;", "Rags on my back, and a false innocence", "Upon my face, through the misdeeming crowd", "Which judges by what seems. 'Tis easy then", "For a new name and for a country new,", "And a new life, fashioned on old desires,", "To change the honours of abandoned Rome.", "And these must be the masks of that within,", "Which must remain unaltered...Oh, I fear", "That what is past will never let me rest!", "Why, when none else is conscious, but myself,", "Of my misdeeds, should my own heart's contempt", "Trouble me? Have I not the power to fly", "My own reproaches? Shall I be the slave", "Of...what? A word? which those of this false world", "Employ against each other, not themselves;", "As men wear daggers not for self-offence.", "But if I am mistaken, where shall I", "Find the disguise to hide me from myself,", "As now I skulk from every other eye?", "", "[EXIT.]", "", "SCENE 5.2:", "A HALL OF JUSTICE.", "CAMILLO, JUDGES, ETC., ARE DISCOVERED SEATED;", "MARZIO IS LED IN.", "", "FIRST JUDGE:", "Accused, do you persist in your denial?", "I ask you, are you innocent, or guilty?", "I demand who were the participators", "In your offence? Speak truth, and the whole truth.", "", "MARZIO:", "My God! I did not kill him; I know nothing;", "Olimpio sold the robe to me from which", "You would infer my guilt.", "", "SECOND JUDGE:", "Away with him!", "", "FIRST JUDGE:", "Dare you, with lips yet white from the rack's kiss", "Speak false? Is it so soft a questioner,", "That you would bandy lover's talk with it", "Till it wind out your life and soul? Away!", "", "MARZIO:", "Spare me! O, spare! I will confess.", "", "FIRST JUDGE:", "Then speak.", "", "MARZIO:", "I strangled him in his sleep.", "", "FIRST JUDGE:", "Who urged you to it?", "", "MARZIO:", "His own son Giacomo, and the young prelate", "Orsino sent me to Petrella; there", "The ladies Beatrice and Lucretia", "Tempted me with a thousand crowns, and I", "And my companion forthwith murdered him.", "Now let me die.", "", "FIRST JUDGE:", "This sounds as bad as truth. Guards, there,", "Lead forth the prisoner!", "[ENTER LUCRETIA, BEATRICE AND GIACOMO, GUARDED.]", "Look upon this man;", "When did you see him last?", "", "BEATRICE:", "We never saw him.", "", "MARZIO:", "You know me too well, Lady Beatrice.", "", "BEATRICE:", "I know thee! How? where? when?", "", "MARZIO:", "You know 'twas I", "Whom you did urge with menaces and bribes", "To kill your father. When the thing was done", "You clothed me in a robe of woven gold", "And bade me thrive: how I have thriven, you see.", "You, my Lord Giacomo, Lady Lucretia,", "You know that what I speak is true.", "[BEATRICE ADVANCES TOWARDS HIM;", "HE COVERS HIS FACE, AND SHRINKS BACK.]", "Oh, dart", "The terrible resentment of those eyes", "On the dead earth! Turn them away from me!", "They wound: 'twas torture forced the truth. My Lords,", "Having said this let me be led to death.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Poor wretch, I pity thee: yet stay awhile.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Guards, lead him not away.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Cardinal Camillo,", "You have a good repute for gentleness", "And wisdom: can it be that you sit here", "To countenance a wicked farce like this?", "When some obscure and trembling slave is dragged", "From sufferings which might shake the sternest heart", "And bade to answer, not as he believes,", "But as those may suspect or do desire", "Whose questions thence suggest their own reply:", "And that in peril of such hideous torments", "As merciful God spares even the damned. Speak now", "The thing you surely know, which is that you,", "If your fine frame were stretched upon that wheel,", "And you were told: 'Confess that you did poison", "Your little nephew; that fair blue-eyed child", "Who was the lodestar of your life:'--and though", "All see, since his most swift and piteous death,", "That day and night, and heaven and earth, and time,", "And all the things hoped for or done therein", "Are changed to you, through your exceeding grief,", "Yet you would say, 'I confess anything:'", "And beg from your tormentors, like that slave,", "The refuge of dishonourable death.", "I pray thee, Cardinal, that thou assert", "My innocence.", "", "CAMILLO [MUCH MOVED]:", "What shall we think, my Lords?", "Shame on these tears! I thought the heart was frozen", "Which is their fountain. I would pledge my soul", "That she is guiltless.", "", "JUDGE:", "Yet she must be tortured.", "", "CAMILLO:", "I would as soon have tortured mine own nephew", "(If he now lived he would be just her age;", "His hair, too, was her colour, and his eyes", "Like hers in shape, but blue and not so deep)", "As that most perfect image of God's love", "That ever came sorrowing upon the earth.", "She is as pure as speechless infancy!", "", "JUDGE:", "Well, be her purity on your head, my Lord,", "If you forbid the rack. His Holiness", "Enjoined us to pursue this monstrous crime", "By the severest forms of law; nay even", "To stretch a point against the criminals.", "The prisoners stand accused of parricide", "Upon such evidence as justifies", "Torture.", "", "BEATRICE:", "What evidence? This man's?", "", "JUDGE:", "Even so.", "", "BEATRICE [TO MARZIO]:", "Come near. And who art thou thus chosen forth", "Out of the multitude of living men", "To kill the innocent?", "", "MARZIO:", "I am Marzio,", "Thy father's vassal.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Fix thine eyes on mine;", "Answer to what I ask.", "[TURNING TO THE JUDGES.]", "I prithee mark", "His countenance: unlike bold calumny", "Which sometimes dares not speak the thing it looks,", "He dares not look the thing he speaks, but bends", "His gaze on the blind earth.", "[TO MARZIO.]", "What! wilt thou say", "That I did murder my own father?", "", "MARZIO:", "Oh!", "Spare me! My brain swims round...I cannot speak...", "It was that horrid torture forced the truth.", "Take me away! Let her not look on me!", "I am a guilty miserable wretch;", "I have said all I know; now, let me die!", "", "BEATRICE:", "My Lords, if by my nature I had been", "So stern, as to have planned the crime alleged,", "Which your suspicions dictate to this slave,", "And the rack makes him utter, do you think", "I should have left this two-edged instrument", "Of my misdeed; this man, this bloody knife", "With my own name engraven on the heft,", "Lying unsheathed amid a world of foes,", "For my own death? That with such horrible need", "For deepest silence, I should have neglected", "So trivial a precaution, as the making", "His tomb the keeper of a secret written", "On a thief's memory? What is his poor life?", "What are a thousand lives? A parricide", "Had trampled them like dust; and, see, he lives!", "[TURNING TO MARZIO.]", "And thou...", "", "MARZIO:", "Oh, spare me! Speak to me no more!", "That stern yet piteous look, those solemn tones,", "Wound worse than torture.", "[TO THE JUDGES.]", "I have told it all;", "For pity's sake lead me away to death.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Guards, lead him nearer the Lady Beatrice;", "He shrinks from her regard like autumn's leaf", "From the keen breath of the serenest north.", "", "BEATRICE:", "O thou who tremblest on the giddy verge", "Of life and death, pause ere thou answerest me;", "So mayst thou answer God with less dismay:", "What evil have we done thee? I, alas!", "Have lived but on this earth a few sad years,", "And so my lot was ordered, that a father", "First turned the moments of awakening life", "To drops, each poisoning youth's sweet hope; and then", "Stabbed with one blow my everlasting soul;", "And my untainted fame; and even that peace", "Which sleeps within the core of the heart's heart;", "But the wound was not mortal; so my hate", "Became the only worship I could lift", "To our great father, who in pity and love,", "Armed thee, as thou dost say, to cut him off;", "And thus his wrong becomes my accusation;", "And art thou the accuser? If thou hopest", "Mercy in heaven, show justice upon earth:", "Worse than a bloody hand is a hard heart.", "If thou hast done murders, made thy life's path", "Over the trampled laws of God and man,", "Rush not before thy Judge, and say: 'My maker,", "I have done this and more; for there was one", "Who was most pure and innocent on earth;", "And because she endured what never any", "Guilty or innocent endured before:", "Because her wrongs could not be told, not thought;", "Because thy hand at length did rescue her;", "I with my words killed her and all her kin.'", "Think, I adjure you, what it is to slay", "The reverence living in the minds of men", "Towards our ancient house, and stainless fame!", "Think what it is to strangle infant pity,", "Cradled in the belief of guileless looks,", "Till it become a crime to suffer. Think", "What 'tis to blot with infamy and blood", "All that which shows like innocence, and is,", "Hear me, great God! I swear, most innocent,", "So that the world lose all discrimination", "Between the sly, fierce, wild regard of guilt,", "And that which now compels thee to reply", "To what I ask: Am I, or am I not", "A parricide?", "", "MARZIO:", "Thou art not!", "", "JUDGE:", "What is this?", "", "MARZIO:", "I here declare those whom I did accuse", "Are innocent. 'Tis I alone am guilty.", "", "JUDGE:", "Drag him away to torments; let them be", "Subtle and long drawn out, to tear the folds", "Of the heart's inmost cell. Unbind him not", "Till he confess.", "", "MARZIO:", "Torture me as ye will:", "A keener pang has wrung a higher truth", "From my last breath. She is most innocent!", "Bloodhounds, not men, glut yourselves well with me;", "I will not give you that fine piece of nature", "To rend and ruin.", "", "[EXIT MARZIO, GUARDED.]", "", "CAMILLO:", "What say ye now, my Lords?", "", "JUDGE:", "Let tortures strain the truth till it be white", "As snow thrice sifted by the frozen wind.", "", "CAMILLO:", "Yet stained with blood.", "", "JUDGE [TO BEATRICE]:", "Know you this paper, Lady?", "", "BEATRICE:", "Entrap me not with questions. Who stands here", "As my accuser? Ha! wilt thou be he,", "Who art my judge? Accuser, witness, judge,", "What, all in one? Here is Orsino's name;", "Where is Orsino? Let his eye meet mine.", "What means this scrawl? Alas! ye know not what,", "And therefore on the chance that it may be", "Some evil, will ye kill us?", "", "[ENTER AN OFFICER.]", "", "OFFICER:", "Marzio's dead.", "", "JUDGE:", "What did he say?", "", "OFFICER:", "Nothing. As soon as we", "Had bound him on the wheel, he smiled on us,", "As one who baffles a deep adversary;", "And holding his breath, died.", "", "JUDGE:", "There remains nothing", "But to apply the question to those prisoners,", "Who yet remain stubborn.", "", "CAMILLO:", "I overrule", "Further proceedings, and in the behalf", "Of these most innocent and noble persons", "Will use my interest with the Holy Father.", "", "JUDGE:", "Let the Pope's pleasure then be done. Meanwhile", "Conduct these culprits each to separate cells;", "And be the engines ready; for this night", "If the Pope's resolution be as grave,", "Pious, and just as once, I'll wring the truth", "Out of those nerves and sinews, groan by groan.", "", "[EXEUNT.]", "", "SCENE 5.3:", "THE CELL OF A PRISON.", "BEATRICE IS DISCOVERED ASLEEP ON A COUCH.", "ENTER BERNARDO.", "", "BERNARDO:", "How gently slumber rests upon her face,", "Like the last thoughts of some day sweetly spent", "Closing in night and dreams, and so prolonged.", "After such torments as she bore last night,", "How light and soft her breathing comes. Ay me!", "Methinks that I shall never sleep again.", "But I must shake the heavenly dew of rest", "From this sweet folded flower, thus...wake, awake!", "What, sister, canst thou sleep?", "", "BEATRICE [AWAKING]:", "I was just dreaming", "That we were all in Paradise. Thou knowest", "This cell seems like a kind of Paradise", "After our father's presence.", "", "BERNARDO:", "Dear, dear sister,", "Would that thy dream were not a dream! O God!", "How shall I tell?", "", "BEATRICE:", "What wouldst thou tell, sweet brother?", "", "BERNARDO:", "Look not so calm and happy, or even whilst", "I stand considering what I have to say", "My heart will break.", "", "BEATRICE:", "See now, thou mak'st me weep:", "How very friendless thou wouldst be, dear child,", "If I were dead. Say what thou hast to say.", "", "BERNARDO:", "They have confessed; they could endure no more", "The tortures...", "", "BEATRICE:", "Ha! What was there to confess?", "They must have told some weak and wicked lie", "To flatter their tormentors. Have they said", "That they were guilty? O white innocence,", "That thou shouldst wear the mask of guilt to hide", "Thine awful and serenest countenance", "From those who know thee not!", "[ENTER JUDGE WITH LUCRETIA AND GIACOMO, GUARDED.]", "Ignoble hearts!", "For some brief spasms of pain, which are at least", "As mortal as the limbs through which they pass,", "Are centuries of high splendour laid in dust?", "And that eternal honour which should live", "Sunlike, above the reek of mortal fame,", "Changed to a mockery and a byword? What!", "Will you give up these bodies to be dragged", "At horses' heels, so that our hair should sweep", "The footsteps of the vain and senseless crowd,", "Who, that they may make our calamity", "Their worship and their spectacle, will leave", "The churches and the theatres as void", "As their own hearts? Shall the light multitude", "Fling, at their choice, curses or faded pity,", "Sad funeral flowers to deck a living corpse,", "Upon us as we pass to pass away,", "And leave...what memory of our having been?", "Infamy, blood, terror, despair? O thou,", "Who wert a mother to the parentless,", "Kill not thy child! Let not her wrongs kill thee!", "Brother, lie down with me upon the rack,", "And let us each be silent as a corpse;", "It soon will be as soft as any grave.", "'Tis but the falsehood it can wring from fear", "Makes the rack cruel.", "", "GIACOMO:", "They will tear the truth", "Even from thee at last, those cruel pains:", "For pity's sake say thou art guilty now.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Oh, speak the truth! Let us all quickly die;", "And after death, God is our judge, not they;", "He will have mercy on us.", "", "BERNARDO:", "If indeed", "It can be true, say so, dear sister mine;", "And then the Pope will surely pardon you,", "And all be well.", "", "JUDGE:", "Confess, or I will warp", "Your limbs with such keen tortures...", "", "BEATRICE:", "Tortures! Turn", "The rack henceforth into a spinning-wheel!", "Torture your dog, that he may tell when last", "He lapped the blood his master shed...not me!", "My pangs are of the mind, and of the heart,", "And of the soul; ay, of the inmost soul,", "Which weeps within tears as of burning gall", "To see, in this ill world where none are true,", "My kindred false to their deserted selves.", "And with considering all the wretched life", "Which I have lived, and its now wretched end,", "And the small justice shown by Heaven and Earth", "To me or mine; and what a tyrant thou art,", "And what slaves these; and what a world we make,", "The oppressor and the oppressed...such pangs compel", "My answer. What is it thou wouldst with me?", "", "JUDGE:", "Art thou not guilty of thy father's death?", "", "BEATRICE:", "Or wilt thou rather tax high-judging God", "That He permitted such an act as that", "Which I have suffered, and which He beheld;", "Made it unutterable, and took from it", "All refuge, all revenge, all consequence,", "But that which thou hast called my father's death?", "Which is or is not what men call a crime,", "Which either I have done, or have not done;", "Say what ye will. I shall deny no more.", "If ye desire it thus, thus let it be,", "And so an end of all. Now do your will;", "No other pains shall force another word.", "", "JUDGE:", "She is convicted, but has not confessed.", "Be it enough. Until their final sentence", "Let none have converse with them. You, young Lord,", "Linger not here!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Oh, tear him not away!", "", "JUDGE:", "Guards! do your duty.", "", "BERNARDO [EMBRACING BEATRICE]:", "Oh! would ye divide", "Body from soul?", "", "OFFICER:", "That is the headsman's business.", "", "[EXEUNT ALL BUT LUCRETIA, BEATRICE, AND GIACOMO.]", "", "GIACOMO:", "Have I confessed? Is it all over now?", "No hope! No refuge! O weak, wicked tongue", "Which hast destroyed me, would that thou hadst been", "Cut out and thrown to dogs first! To have killed", "My father first, and then betrayed my sister;", "Ay, thee! the one thing innocent and pure", "In this black, guilty world, to that which I", "So well deserve! My wife! my little ones!", "Destitute, helpless, and I...Father! God!", "Canst Thou forgive even the unforgiving,", "When their full hearts break thus, thus!...", "", "[COVERS HIS FACE AND WEEPS.]", "", "LUCRETIA:", "O my child!", "To what a dreadful end are we all come!", "Why did I yield? Why did I not sustain", "Those torments? Oh, that I were all dissolved", "Into these fast and unavailing tears,", "Which flow and feel not!", "", "BEATRICE:", "What 'twas weak to do,", "'Tis weaker to lament, once being done;", "Take cheer! The God who knew my wrong, and made", "Our speedy act the angel of His wrath,", "Seems, and but seems, to have abandoned us.", "Let us not think that we shall die for this.", "Brother, sit near me; give me your firm hand,", "You had a manly heart. Bear up! Bear up!", "O dearest Lady, put your gentle head", "Upon my lap, and try to sleep awhile:", "Your eyes look pale, hollow, and overworn,", "With heaviness of watching and slow grief.", "Come, I will sing you some low, sleepy tune,", "Not cheerful, nor yet sad; some dull old thing,", "Some outworn and unused monotony,", "Such as our country gossips sing and spin,", "Till they almost forget they live: lie down!", "So, that will do. Have I forgot the words?", "Faith! They are sadder than I thought they were.", "", "SONG:", "False friend, wilt thou smile or weep", "When my life is laid asleep?", "Little cares for a smile or a tear,", "The clay-cold corpse upon the bier!", "Farewell! Heighho!", "What is this whispers low?", "There is a snake in thy smile, my dear;", "And bitter poison within thy tear.", "", "Sweet sleep, were death like to thee,", "Or if thou couldst mortal be,", "I would close these eyes of pain;", "When to wake? Never again.", "O World! Farewell!", "Listen to the passing bell!", "It says, thou and I must part,", "With a light and a heavy heart.", "", "[THE SCENE CLOSES.]", "", "SCENE 5.4:", "A HALL OF THE PRISON.", "ENTER CAMILLO AND BERNARDO.", "", "CAMILLO:", "The Pope is stern; not to be moved or bent.", "He looked as calm and keen as is the engine", "Which tortures and which kills, exempt itself", "From aught that it inflicts; a marble form,", "A rite, a law, a custom: not a man.", "He frowned, as if to frown had been the trick", "Of his machinery, on the advocates", "Presenting the defences, which he tore", "And threw behind, muttering with hoarse, harsh voice:", "'Which among ye defended their old father", "Killed in his sleep?' Then to another: 'Thou", "Dost this in virtue of thy place; 'tis well.'", "He turned to me then, looking deprecation,", "And said these three words, coldly: 'They must die.'", "", "BERNARDO:", "And yet you left him not?", "", "CAMILLO:", "I urged him still;", "Pleading, as I could guess, the devilish wrong", "Which prompted your unnatural parent's death.", "And he replied: 'Paolo Santa Croce", "Murdered his mother yester evening,", "And he is fled. Parricide grows so rife", "That soon, for some just cause no doubt, the young", "Will strangle us all, dozing in our chairs.", "Authority, and power, and hoary hair", "Are grown crimes capital. You are my nephew,", "You come to ask their pardon; stay a moment;", "Here is their sentence; never see me more", "Till, to the letter, it be all fulfilled.'", "", "BERNARDO:", "O God, not so! I did believe indeed", "That all you said was but sad preparation", "For happy news. Oh, there are words and looks", "To bend the sternest purpose! Once I knew them,", "Now I forget them at my dearest need.", "What think you if I seek him out, and bathe", "His feet and robe with hot and bitter tears?", "Importune him with prayers, vexing his brain", "With my perpetual cries, until in rage", "He strike me with his pastoral cross, and trample", "Upon my prostrate head, so that my blood", "May stain the senseless dust on which he treads,", "And remorse waken mercy? I will do it!", "Oh, wait till I return!", "", "[RUSHES OUT.]", "", "CAMILLO:", "Alas, poor boy!", "A wreck-devoted seaman thus might pray", "To the deaf sea.", "", "[ENTER LUCRETIA, BEATRICE, AND GIACOMO, GUARDED.]", "", "BEATRICE:", "I hardly dare to fear", "That thou bring'st other news than a just pardon.", "", "CAMILLO:", "May God in heaven be less inexorable", "To the Pope's prayers than he has been to mine.", "Here is the sentence and the warrant.", "", "BEATRICE [WILDLY]:", "O", "My God! Can it be possible I have", "To die so suddenly? So young to go", "Under the obscure, cold, rotting, wormy ground!", "To be nailed down into a narrow place;", "To see no more sweet sunshine; hear no more", "Blithe voice of living thing; muse not again", "Upon familiar thoughts, sad, yet thus lost--", "How fearful! to be nothing! Or to be...", "What? Oh, where am I? Let me not go mad!", "Sweet Heaven, forgive weak thoughts! If there should be", "No God, no Heaven, no Earth in the void world;", "The wide, gray, lampless, deep, unpeopled world!", "If all things then should be...my father's spirit,", "His eye, his voice, his touch surrounding me;", "The atmosphere and breath of my dead life!", "If sometimes, as a shape more like himself,", "Even the form which tortured me on earth,", "Masked in gray hairs and wrinkles, he should come", "And wind me in his hellish arms, and fix", "His eyes on mine, and drag me down, down, down!", "For was he not alone omnipotent", "On Earth, and ever present? Even though dead,", "Does not his spirit live in all that breathe,", "And work for me and mine still the same ruin,", "Scorn, pain, despair? Who ever yet returned", "To teach the laws of Death's untrodden realm?", "Unjust perhaps as those which drive us now,", "Oh, whither, whither?", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Trust in God's sweet love,", "The tender promises of Christ: ere night,", "Think, we shall be in Paradise.", "", "BEATRICE:", "'Tis past!", "Whatever comes, my heart shall sink no more.", "And yet, I know not why, your words strike chill:", "How tedious, false, and cold seem all things. I", "Have met with much injustice in this world;", "No difference has been made by God or man,", "Or any power moulding my wretched lot,", "'Twixt good or evil, as regarded me.", "I am cut off from the only world I know,", "From light, and life, and love, in youth's sweet prime.", "You do well telling me to trust in God;", "I hope I do trust in him. In whom else", "Can any trust? And yet my heart is cold.", "", "[DURING THE LATTER SPEECHES GIACOMO HAS RETIRED CONVERSING WITH", "CAMILLO, WHO NOW GOES OUT;", "GIACOMO ADVANCES.]", "", "GIACOMO:", "Know you not, Mother...Sister, know you not?", "Bernardo even now is gone to implore", "The Pope to grant our pardon.", "", "LUCRETIA:", "Child, perhaps", "It will be granted. We may all then live", "To make these woes a tale for distant years:", "Oh, what a thought! It gushes to my heart", "Like the warm blood.", "", "BEATRICE:", "Yet both will soon be cold.", "Oh, trample out that thought! Worse than despair,", "Worse than the bitterness of death, is hope:", "It is the only ill which can find place", "Upon the giddy, sharp, and narrow hour", "Tottering beneath us. Plead with the swift frost", "That it should spare the eldest flower of spring:", "Plead with awakening earthquake, o'er whose couch", "Even now a city stands, strong, fair, and free;", "Now stench and blackness yawn, like death. Oh, plead", "With famine, or wind-walking Pestilence,", "Blind lightning, or the deaf sea, not with man!", "Cruel, cold, formal man; righteous in words,", "In deeds a Cain. No, Mother, we must die:", "Since such is the reward of innocent lives;", "Such the alleviation of worst wrongs.", "And whilst our murderers live, and hard, cold men,", "Smiling and slow, walk through a world of tears", "To death as to life's sleep; 'twere just the grave", "Were some strange joy for us. Come, obscure Death,", "And wind me in thine all-embracing arms!", "Like a fond mother hide me in thy bosom,", "And rock me to the sleep from which none wake.", "Live ye, who live, subject to one another", "As we were once, who now...", "", "[BERNARDO RUSHES IN.]", "", "BERNARDO:", "Oh, horrible!", "That tears, that looks, that hope poured forth in prayer,", "Even till the heart is vacant and despairs,", "Should all be vain! The ministers of death", "Are waiting round the doors. I thought I saw", "Blood on the face of one...What if 'twere fancy?", "Soon the heart's blood of all I love on earth", "Will sprinkle him, and he will wipe it off", "As if 'twere only rain. O life! O world!", "Cover me! let me be no more! To see", "That perfect mirror of pure innocence", "Wherein I gazed, and grew happy and good,", "Shivered to dust! To see thee, Beatrice,", "Who made all lovely thou didst look upon...", "Thee, light of life ... dead, dark! while I say, sister,", "To hear I have no sister; and thou, Mother,", "Whose love was as a bond to all our loves...", "Dead! The sweet bond broken!", "[ENTER CAMILLO AND GUARDS.]", "They come! Let me", "Kiss those warm lips before their crimson leaves", "Are blighted...white...cold. Say farewell, before", "Death chokes that gentle voice! Oh, let me hear", "You speak!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Farewell, my tender brother. Think", "Of our sad fate with gentleness, as now:", "And let mild, pitying thoughts lighten for thee", "Thy sorrow's load. Err not in harsh despair,", "But tears and patience. One thing more, my child:", "For thine own sake be constant to the love", "Thou bearest us; and to the faith that I,", "Though wrapped in a strange cloud of crime and shame,", "Lived ever holy and unstained. And though", "Ill tongues shall wound me, and our common name", "Be as a mark stamped on thine innocent brow", "For men to point at as they pass, do thou", "Forbear, and never think a thought unkind", "Of those, who perhaps love thee in their graves.", "So mayest thou die as I do; fear and pain", "Being subdued. Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!", "", "BERNARDO:", "I cannot say, farewell!", "", "CAMILLO:", "Oh, Lady Beatrice!", "", "BEATRICE:", "Give yourself no unnecessary pain,", "My dear Lord Cardinal. Here, Mother, tie", "My girdle for me, and bind up this hair", "In any simple knot; ay, that does well.", "And yours I see is coming down. How often", "Have we done this for one another; now", "We shall not do it any more. My Lord,", "We are quite ready. Well, 'tis very well." ], "linecount": "3190" }, { "title": "Julian and Maddalo. A Conversation.", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "PREFACE.", "", "The meadows with fresh streams, the bees with thyme,", "The goats with the green leaves of budding Spring,", "Are saturated not--nor Love with tears.--VIRGIL'S \"Gallus\".", "", "I rode one evening with Count Maddalo", "Upon the bank of land which breaks the flow", "Of Adria towards Venice: a bare strand", "Of hillocks, heaped from ever-shifting sand,", "Matted with thistles and amphibious weeds,", "Such as from earth's embrace the salt ooze breeds,", "Is this; an uninhabited sea-side,", "Which the lone fisher, when his nets are dried,", "Abandons; and no other object breaks", "The waste, but one dwarf tree and some few stakes", "Broken and unrepaired, and the tide makes", "A narrow space of level sand thereon,", "Where 'twas our wont to ride while day went down.", "This ride was my delight. I love all waste", "And solitary places; where we taste", "The pleasure of believing what we see", "Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be:", "And such was this wide ocean, and this shore", "More barren than its billows; and yet more", "Than all, with a remembered friend I love", "To ride as then I rode;--for the winds drove", "The living spray along the sunny air", "Into our faces; the blue heavens were bare,", "Stripped to their depths by the awakening north;", "And, from the waves, sound like delight broke forth", "Harmonising with solitude, and sent", "Into our hearts aereal merriment.", "So, as we rode, we talked; and the swift thought,", "Winging itself with laughter, lingered not,", "But flew from brain to brain,--such glee was ours,", "Charged with light memories of remembered hours,", "None slow enough for sadness: till we came", "Homeward, which always makes the spirit tame.", "This day had been cheerful but cold, and now", "The sun was sinking, and the wind also.", "Our talk grew somewhat serious, as may be", "Talk interrupted with such raillery", "As mocks itself, because it cannot scorn", "The thoughts it would extinguish: --'twas forlorn,", "Yet pleasing, such as once, so poets tell,", "The devils held within the dales of Hell", "Concerning God, freewill and destiny:", "Of all that earth has been or yet may be,", "All that vain men imagine or believe,", "Or hope can paint or suffering may achieve,", "We descanted; and I (for ever still", "Is it not wise to make the best of ill?)", "Argued against despondency, but pride", "Made my companion take the darker side.", "The sense that he was greater than his kind", "Had struck, methinks, his eagle spirit blind", "By gazing on its own exceeding light.", "Meanwhile the sun paused ere it should alight,", "Over the horizon of the mountains;--Oh,", "How beautiful is sunset, when the glow", "Of Heaven descends upon a land like thee,", "Thou Paradise of exiles, Italy!", "Thy mountains, seas and vineyards, and the towers", "Of cities they encircle!--it was ours", "To stand on thee, beholding it: and then,", "Just where we had dismounted, the Count's men", "Were waiting for us with the gondola.--", "As those who pause on some delightful way", "Though bent on pleasant pilgrimage, we stood", "Looking upon the evening, and the flood", "Which lay between the city and the shore,", "Paved with the image of the sky...the hoar", "And aery Alps towards the North appeared", "Through mist, an heaven-sustaining bulwark reared", "Between the East and West; and half the sky", "Was roofed with clouds of rich emblazonry", "Dark purple at the zenith, which still grew", "Down the steep West into a wondrous hue", "Brighter than burning gold, even to the rent", "Where the swift sun yet paused in his descent", "Among the many-folded hills: they were", "Those famous Euganean hills, which bear,", "As seen from Lido thro' the harbour piles,", "The likeness of a clump of peaked isles--", "And then--as if the Earth and Sea had been", "Dissolved into one lake of fire, were seen", "Those mountains towering as from waves of flame", "Around the vaporous sun, from which there came", "The inmost purple spirit of light, and made", "Their very peaks transparent. 'Ere it fade,'", "Said my companion, 'I will show you soon", "A better station'--so, o'er the lagune", "We glided; and from that funereal bark", "I leaned, and saw the city, and could mark", "How from their many isles, in evening's gleam,", "Its temples and its palaces did seem", "Like fabrics of enchantment piled to Heaven.", "I was about to speak, when--'We are even", "Now at the point I meant,' said Maddalo,", "And bade the gondolieri cease to row.", "'Look, Julian, on the west, and listen well", "If you hear not a deep and heavy bell.'", "I looked, and saw between us and the sun", "A building on an island; such a one", "As age to age might add, for uses vile,", "A windowless, deformed and dreary pile;", "And on the top an open tower, where hung", "A bell, which in the radiance swayed and swung;", "We could just hear its hoarse and iron tongue:", "The broad sun sunk behind it, and it tolled", "In strong and black relief.--'What we behold", "Shall be the madhouse and its belfry tower,'", "Said Maddalo, 'and ever at this hour", "Those who may cross the water, hear that bell", "Which calls the maniacs, each one from his cell,", "To vespers.'--'As much skill as need to pray", "In thanks or hope for their dark lot have they", "To their stern maker,' I replied. 'O ho!", "You talk as in years past,' said Maddalo.", "''Tis strange men change not. You were ever still", "Among Christ's flock a perilous infidel,", "A wolf for the meek lambs--if you can't swim", "Beware of Providence.' I looked on him,", "But the gay smile had faded in his eye.", "'And such,'--he cried, 'is our mortality,", "And this must be the emblem and the sign", "Of what should be eternal and divine!--", "And like that black and dreary bell, the soul,", "Hung in a heaven-illumined tower, must toll", "Our thoughts and our desires to meet below", "Round the rent heart and pray--as madmen do", "For what? they know not,--till the night of death", "As sunset that strange vision, severeth", "Our memory from itself, and us from all", "We sought and yet were baffled.' I recall", "The sense of what he said, although I mar", "The force of his expressions. The broad star", "Of day meanwhile had sunk behind the hill,", "And the black bell became invisible,", "And the red tower looked gray, and all between", "The churches, ships and palaces were seen", "Huddled in gloom;--into the purple sea", "The orange hues of heaven sunk silently.", "We hardly spoke, and soon the gondola", "Conveyed me to my lodging by the way.", "The following morn was rainy, cold, and dim:", "Ere Maddalo arose, I called on him,", "And whilst I waited with his child I played;", "A lovelier toy sweet Nature never made;", "A serious, subtle, wild, yet gentle being,", "Graceful without design and unforeseeing,", "With eyes--Oh speak not of her eyes!--which seem", "Twin mirrors of Italian Heaven, yet gleam", "With such deep meaning, as we never see", "But in the human countenance: with me", "She was a special favourite: I had nursed", "Her fine and feeble limbs when she came first", "To this bleak world; and she yet seemed to know", "On second sight her ancient playfellow,", "Less changed than she was by six months or so;", "For after her first shyness was worn out", "We sate there, rolling billiard balls about,", "When the Count entered. Salutations past--", "'The word you spoke last night might well have cast", "A darkness on my spirit--if man be", "The passive thing you say, I should not see", "Much harm in the religions and old saws", "(Tho' I may never own such leaden laws)", "Which break a teachless nature to the yoke:", "Mine is another faith.'--thus much I spoke", "And noting he replied not, added: 'See", "This lovely child, blithe, innocent and free;", "She spends a happy time with little care,", "While we to such sick thoughts subjected are", "As came on you last night. It is our will", "That thus enchains us to permitted ill--", "We might be otherwise--we might be all", "We dream of happy, high, majestical.", "Where is the love, beauty, and truth we seek,", "But in our mind? and if we were not weak", "Should we be less in deed than in desire?'", "'Ay, if we were not weak--and we aspire", "How vainly to be strong!' said Maddalo:", "'You talk Utopia.' 'It remains to know,'", "I then rejoined, 'and those who try may find", "How strong the chains are which our spirit bind;", "Brittle perchance as straw...We are assured", "Much may be conquered, much may be endured,", "Of what degrades and crushes us. We know", "That we have power over ourselves to do", "And suffer--what, we know not till we try;", "But something nobler than to live and die--", "So taught those kings of old philosophy", "Who reigned, before Religion made men blind;", "And those who suffer with their suffering kind", "Yet feel their faith, religion.' 'My dear friend,'", "Said Maddalo, 'my judgement will not bend", "To your opinion, though I think you might", "Make such a system refutation-tight", "As far as words go. I knew one like you", "Who to this city came some months ago,", "With whom I argued in this sort, and he", "Is now gone mad,--and so he answered me,--", "Poor fellow! but if you would like to go,", "We'll visit him, and his wild talk will show", "How vain are such aspiring theories.'", "'I hope to prove the induction otherwise,", "And that a want of that true theory, still,", "Which seeks a \"soul of goodness\" in things ill", "Or in himself or others, has thus bowed", "His being--there are some by nature proud,", "Who patient in all else demand but this--", "To love and be beloved with gentleness;", "And being scorned, what wonder if they die", "Some living death? this is not destiny", "But man's own wilful ill.'", "As thus I spoke", "Servants announced the gondola, and we", "Through the fast-falling rain and high-wrought sea", "Sailed to the island where the madhouse stands.", "We disembarked. The clap of tortured hands,", "Fierce yells and howlings and lamentings keen,", "And laughter where complaint had merrier been,", "Moans, shrieks, and curses, and blaspheming prayers", "Accosted us. We climbed the oozy stairs", "Into an old courtyard. I heard on high,", "Then, fragments of most touching melody,", "But looking up saw not the singer there--", "Through the black bars in the tempestuous air", "I saw, like weeds on a wrecked palace growing,", "Long tangled locks flung wildly forth, and flowing,", "Of those who on a sudden were beguiled", "Into strange silence, and looked forth and smiled", "Hearing sweet sounds. Then I: 'Methinks there were", "A cure of these with patience and kind care,", "If music can thus move...but what is he", "Whom we seek here?' 'Of his sad history", "I know but this,' said Maddalo: 'he came", "To Venice a dejected man, and fame", "Said he was wealthy, or he had been so;", "Some thought the loss of fortune wrought him woe;", "But he was ever talking in such sort", "As you do--far more sadly--he seemed hurt,", "Even as a man with his peculiar wrong,", "To hear but of the oppression of the strong,", "Or those absurd deceits (I think with you", "In some respects, you know) which carry through", "The excellent impostors of this earth", "When they outface detection--he had worth,", "Poor fellow! but a humorist in his way'--", "'Alas, what drove him mad?' 'I cannot say:", "A lady came with him from France, and when", "She left him and returned, he wandered then", "About yon lonely isles of desert sand", "Till he grew wild--he had no cash or land", "Remaining,--the police had brought him here--", "Some fancy took him and he would not bear", "Removal; so I fitted up for him", "Those rooms beside the sea, to please his whim,", "And sent him busts and books and urns for flowers,", "Which had adorned his life in happier hours,", "And instruments of music--you may guess", "A stranger could do little more or less", "For one so gentle and unfortunate:", "And those are his sweet strains which charm the weight", "From madmen's chains, and make this Hell appear", "A heaven of sacred silence, hushed to hear.'--", "'Nay, this was kind of you--he had no claim,", "As the world says'--'None--but the very same", "Which I on all mankind were I as he", "Fallen to such deep reverse;--his melody", "Is interrupted--now we hear the din", "Of madmen, shriek on shriek, again begin;", "Let us now visit him; after this strain", "He ever communes with himself again,", "And sees nor hears not any.' Having said", "These words, we called the keeper, and he led", "To an apartment opening on the sea--", "There the poor wretch was sitting mournfully", "Near a piano, his pale fingers twined", "One with the other, and the ooze and wind", "Rushed through an open casement, and did sway", "His hair, and starred it with the brackish spray;", "His head was leaning on a music book,", "And he was muttering, and his lean limbs shook;", "His lips were pressed against a folded leaf", "In hue too beautiful for health, and grief", "Smiled in their motions as they lay apart--", "As one who wrought from his own fervid heart", "The eloquence of passion, soon he raised", "His sad meek face and eyes lustrous and glazed", "And spoke--sometimes as one who wrote, and thought", "His words might move some heart that heeded not,", "If sent to distant lands: and then as one", "Reproaching deeds never to be undone", "With wondering self-compassion; then his speech", "Was lost in grief, and then his words came each", "Unmodulated, cold, expressionless,--", "But that from one jarred accent you might guess", "It was despair made them so uniform:", "And all the while the loud and gusty storm", "Hissed through the window, and we stood behind", "Stealing his accents from the envious wind", "Unseen. I yet remember what he said", "Distinctly: such impression his words made.", "", "'Month after month,' he cried, 'to bear this load", "And as a jade urged by the whip and goad", "To drag life on, which like a heavy chain", "Lengthens behind with many a link of pain!--", "And not to speak my grief--O, not to dare", "To give a human voice to my despair,", "But live, and move, and, wretched thing! smile on", "As if I never went aside to groan,", "And wear this mask of falsehood even to those", "Who are most dear--not for my own repose--", "Alas! no scorn or pain or hate could be", "So heavy as that falsehood is to me--", "But that I cannot bear more altered faces", "Than needs must be, more changed and cold embraces,", "More misery, disappointment, and mistrust", "To own me for their father...Would the dust", "Were covered in upon my body now!", "That the life ceased to toil within my brow!", "And then these thoughts would at the least be fled;", "Let us not fear such pain can vex the dead.", "", "'What Power delights to torture us? I know", "That to myself I do not wholly owe", "What now I suffer, though in part I may.", "Alas! none strewed sweet flowers upon the way", "Where wandering heedlessly, I met pale Pain", "My shadow, which will leave me not again--", "If I have erred, there was no joy in error,", "But pain and insult and unrest and terror;", "I have not as some do, bought penitence", "With pleasure, and a dark yet sweet offence,", "For then,--if love and tenderness and truth", "Had overlived hope's momentary youth,", "My creed should have redeemed me from repenting;", "But loathed scorn and outrage unrelenting", "Met love excited by far other seeming", "Until the end was gained...as one from dreaming", "Of sweetest peace, I woke, and found my state", "Such as it is.--", "'O Thou, my spirit's mate", "Who, for thou art compassionate and wise,", "Wouldst pity me from thy most gentle eyes", "If this sad writing thou shouldst ever see--", "My secret groans must be unheard by thee,", "Thou wouldst weep tears bitter as blood to know", "Thy lost friend's incommunicable woe.", "", "'Ye few by whom my nature has been weighed", "In friendship, let me not that name degrade", "By placing on your hearts the secret load", "Which crushes mine to dust. There is one road", "To peace and that is truth, which follow ye!", "Love sometimes leads astray to misery.", "Yet think not though subdued--and I may well", "Say that I am subdued--that the full Hell", "Within me would infect the untainted breast", "Of sacred nature with its own unrest;", "As some perverted beings think to find", "In scorn or hate a medicine for the mind", "Which scorn or hate have wounded--O how vain!", "The dagger heals not but may rend again...", "Believe that I am ever still the same", "In creed as in resolve, and what may tame", "My heart, must leave the understanding free,", "Or all would sink in this keen agony--", "Nor dream that I will join the vulgar cry;", "Or with my silence sanction tyranny;", "Or seek a moment's shelter from my pain", "In any madness which the world calls gain,", "Ambition or revenge or thoughts as stern", "As those which make me what I am; or turn", "To avarice or misanthropy or lust...", "Heap on me soon, O grave, thy welcome dust!", "Till then the dungeon may demand its prey,", "And Poverty and Shame may meet and say--", "Halting beside me on the public way--", "\"That love-devoted youth is ours--let's sit", "Beside him--he may live some six months yet.\"", "Or the red scaffold, as our country bends,", "May ask some willing victim; or ye friends", "May fall under some sorrow which this heart", "Or hand may share or vanquish or avert;", "I am prepared--in truth, with no proud joy--", "To do or suffer aught, as when a boy", "I did devote to justice and to love", "My nature, worthless now!...", "'I must remove", "A veil from my pent mind. 'Tis torn aside!", "O, pallid as Death's dedicated bride,", "Thou mockery which art sitting by my side,", "Am I not wan like thee? at the grave's call", "I haste, invited to thy wedding-ball", "To greet the ghastly paramour, for whom", "Thou hast deserted me...and made the tomb", "Thy bridal bed...But I beside your feet", "Will lie and watch ye from my winding-sheet--", "Thus...wide awake tho' dead...yet stay, O stay!", "Go not so soon--I know not what I say--", "Hear but my reasons...I am mad, I fear,", "My fancy is o'erwrought...thou art not here...", "Pale art thou, 'tis most true...but thou art gone,", "Thy work is finished...I am left alone!--", "...", "'Nay, was it I who wooed thee to this breast", "Which, like a serpent, thou envenomest", "As in repayment of the warmth it lent?", "Didst thou not seek me for thine own content?", "Did not thy love awaken mine? I thought", "That thou wert she who said, \"You kiss me not", "Ever, I fear you do not love me now\"--", "In truth I loved even to my overthrow", "Her, who would fain forget these words: but they", "Cling to her mind, and cannot pass away.", "...", "'You say that I am proud--that when I speak", "My lip is tortured with the wrongs which break", "The spirit it expresses...Never one", "Humbled himself before, as I have done!", "Even the instinctive worm on which we tread", "Turns, though it wound not--then with prostrate head", "Sinks in the dusk and writhes like me--and dies?", "No: wears a living death of agonies!", "As the slow shadows of the pointed grass", "Mark the eternal periods, his pangs pass,", "Slow, ever-moving,--making moments be", "As mine seem--each an immortality!", "...", "'That you had never seen me--never heard", "My voice, and more than all had ne'er endured", "The deep pollution of my loathed embrace--", "That your eyes ne'er had lied love in my face--", "That, like some maniac monk, I had torn out", "The nerves of manhood by their bleeding root", "With mine own quivering fingers, so that ne'er", "Our hearts had for a moment mingled there", "To disunite in horror--these were not", "With thee, like some suppressed and hideous thought", "Which flits athwart our musings, but can find", "No rest within a pure and gentle mind...", "Thou sealedst them with many a bare broad word,", "And searedst my memory o'er them,--for I heard", "And can forget not...they were ministered", "One after one, those curses. Mix them up", "Like self-destroying poisons in one cup,", "And they will make one blessing which thou ne'er", "Didst imprecate for, on me,--death.", "...", "'It were", "A cruel punishment for one most cruel,", "If such can love, to make that love the fuel", "Of the mind's hell; hate, scorn, remorse, despair:", "But ME--whose heart a stranger's tear might wear", "As water-drops the sandy fountain-stone,", "Who loved and pitied all things, and could moan", "For woes which others hear not, and could see", "The absent with the glance of phantasy,", "And with the poor and trampled sit and weep,", "Following the captive to his dungeon deep;", "ME--who am as a nerve o'er which do creep", "The else unfelt oppressions of this earth,", "And was to thee the flame upon thy hearth,", "When all beside was cold--that thou on me", "Shouldst rain these plagues of blistering agony--", "Such curses are from lips once eloquent", "With love's too partial praise--let none relent", "Who intend deeds too dreadful for a name", "Henceforth, if an example for the same", "They seek...for thou on me lookedst so, and so--", "And didst speak thus...and thus...I live to show", "How much men bear and die not!", "...", "'Thou wilt tell", "With the grimace of hate, how horrible", "It was to meet my love when thine grew less;", "Thou wilt admire how I could e'er address", "Such features to love's work...this taunt, though true,", "(For indeed Nature nor in form nor hue", "Bestowed on me her choicest workmanship)", "Shall not be thy defence...for since thy lip", "Met mine first, years long past, since thine eye kindled", "With soft fire under mine, I have not dwindled", "Nor changed in mind or body, or in aught", "But as love changes what it loveth not", "After long years and many trials.", "", "'How vain", "Are words! I thought never to speak again,", "Not even in secret,--not to mine own heart--", "But from my lips the unwilling accents start,", "And from my pen the words flow as I write,", "Dazzling my eyes with scalding tears...my sight", "Is dim to see that charactered in vain", "On this unfeeling leaf which burns the brain", "And eats into it...blotting all things fair", "And wise and good which time had written there.", "", "'Those who inflict must suffer, for they see", "The work of their own hearts, and this must be", "Our chastisement or recompense--O child!", "I would that thine were like to be more mild", "For both our wretched sakes...for thine the most", "Who feelest already all that thou hast lost", "Without the power to wish it thine again;", "And as slow years pass, a funereal train", "Each with the ghost of some lost hope or friend", "Following it like its shadow, wilt thou bend", "No thought on my dead memory?", "...", "'Alas, love!", "Fear me not...against thee I would not move", "A finger in despite. Do I not live", "That thou mayst have less bitter cause to grieve?", "I give thee tears for scorn and love for hate;", "And that thy lot may be less desolate", "Than his on whom thou tramplest, I refrain", "From that sweet sleep which medicines all pain.", "Then, when thou speakest of me, never say", "\"He could forgive not.\" Here I cast away", "All human passions, all revenge, all pride;", "I think, speak, act no ill; I do but hide", "Under these words, like embers, every spark", "Of that which has consumed me--quick and dark", "The grave is yawning...as its roof shall cover", "My limbs with dust and worms under and over", "So let Oblivion hide this grief...the air", "Closes upon my accents, as despair", "Upon my heart--let death upon despair!'", "", "He ceased, and overcome leant back awhile,", "Then rising, with a melancholy smile", "Went to a sofa, and lay down, and slept", "A heavy sleep, and in his dreams he wept", "And muttered some familiar name, and we", "Wept without shame in his society.", "I think I never was impressed so much;", "The man who were not, must have lacked a touch", "Of human nature...then we lingered not,", "Although our argument was quite forgot,", "But calling the attendants, went to dine", "At Maddalo's; yet neither cheer nor wine", "Could give us spirits, for we talked of him", "And nothing else, till daylight made stars dim;", "And we agreed his was some dreadful ill", "Wrought on him boldly, yet unspeakable,", "By a dear friend; some deadly change in love", "Of one vowed deeply which he dreamed not of;", "For whose sake he, it seemed, had fixed a blot", "Of falsehood on his mind which flourished not", "But in the light of all-beholding truth;", "And having stamped this canker on his youth", "She had abandoned him--and how much more", "Might be his woe, we guessed not--he had store", "Of friends and fortune once, as we could guess", "From his nice habits and his gentleness;", "These were now lost...it were a grief indeed", "If he had changed one unsustaining reed", "For all that such a man might else adorn.", "The colours of his mind seemed yet unworn;", "For the wild language of his grief was high,", "Such as in measure were called poetry;", "And I remember one remark which then", "Maddalo made. He said: 'Most wretched men", "Are cradled into poetry by wrong,", "They learn in suffering what they teach in song.'", "", "If I had been an unconnected man,", "I, from this moment, should have formed some plan", "Never to leave sweet Venice,--for to me", "It was delight to ride by the lone sea;", "And then, the town is silent--one may write", "Or read in gondolas by day or night,", "Having the little brazen lamp alight,", "Unseen, uninterrupted; books are there,", "Pictures, and casts from all those statues fair", "Which were twin-born with poetry, and all", "We seek in towns, with little to recall", "Regrets for the green country. I might sit", "In Maddalo's great palace, and his wit", "And subtle talk would cheer the winter night", "And make me know myself, and the firelight", "Would flash upon our faces, till the day", "Might dawn and make me wonder at my stay:", "But I had friends in London too: the chief", "Attraction here, was that I sought relief", "From the deep tenderness that maniac wrought", "Within me--'twas perhaps an idle thought--", "But I imagined that if day by day", "I watched him, and but seldom went away,", "And studied all the beatings of his heart", "With zeal, as men study some stubborn art", "For their own good, and could by patience find", "An entrance to the caverns of his mind,", "I might reclaim him from this dark estate:", "In friendships I had been most fortunate--", "Yet never saw I one whom I would call", "More willingly my friend; and this was all", "Accomplished not; such dreams of baseless good", "Oft come and go in crowds or solitude", "And leave no trace--but what I now designed", "Made for long years impression on my mind.", "The following morning, urged by my affairs,", "I left bright Venice.", "After many years", "And many changes I returned; the name", "Of Venice, and its aspect, was the same;", "But Maddalo was travelling far away", "Among the mountains of Armenia.", "His dog was dead. His child had now become", "A woman; such as it has been my doom", "To meet with few,--a wonder of this earth,", "Where there is little of transcendent worth,", "Like one of Shakespeare's women: kindly she,", "And, with a manner beyond courtesy,", "Received her father's friend; and when I asked", "Of the lorn maniac, she her memory tasked,", "And told as she had heard the mournful tale:", "'That the poor sufferer's health began to fail", "Two years from my departure, but that then", "The lady who had left him, came again.", "Her mien had been imperious, but she now", "Looked meek--perhaps remorse had brought her low.", "Her coming made him better, and they stayed", "Together at my father's--for I played,", "As I remember, with the lady's shawl--", "I might be six years old--but after all", "She left him.'...'Why, her heart must have been tough:", "How did it end?' 'And was not this enough?", "They met--they parted.'--'Child, is there no more?'", "'Something within that interval which bore", "The stamp of WHY they parted, HOW they met:", "Yet if thine aged eyes disdain to wet", "Those wrinkled cheeks with youth's remembered tears,", "Ask me no more, but let the silent years", "Be closed and cered over their memory", "As yon mute marble where their corpses lie.'", "I urged and questioned still, she told me how", "All happened--but the cold world shall not know." ], "linecount": "635" }, { "title": "Good-Night", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Good-night? ah! no; the hour is ill", "Which severs those it should unite;", "Let us remain together still,", "Then it will be GOOD night.", "", "How can I call the lone night good,", "Though thy sweet wishes wing its flight?", "Be it not said, thought, understood--", "Then it will be--GOOD night.", "", "To hearts which near each other move", "From evening close to morning light,", "The night is good; because, my love,", "They never SAY good-night." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Fiordispina", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "The season was the childhood of sweet June,", "Whose sunny hours from morning until noon", "Went creeping through the day with silent feet,", "Each with its load of pleasure; slow yet sweet;", "Like the long years of blest Eternity", "Never to be developed. Joy to thee,", "Fiordispina and thy Cosimo,", "For thou the wonders of the depth canst know", "Of this unfathomable flood of hours,", "Sparkling beneath the heaven which embowers--", "", "...", "", "They were two cousins, almost like to twins,", "Except that from the catalogue of sins", "Nature had rased their love--which could not be", "But by dissevering their nativity.", "And so they grew together like two flowers", "Upon one stem, which the same beams and showers", "Lull or awaken in their purple prime,", "Which the same hand will gather--the same clime", "Shake with decay. This fair day smiles to see", "All those who love--and who e'er loved like thee,", "Fiordispina? Scarcely Cosimo,", "Within whose bosom and whose brain now glow", "The ardours of a vision which obscure", "The very idol of its portraiture.", "He faints, dissolved into a sea of love;", "But thou art as a planet sphered above;", "But thou art Love itself--ruling the motion", "Of his subjected spirit: such emotion", "Must end in sin and sorrow, if sweet May", "Had not brought forth this morn--your wedding-day.", "", "...", "", "'Lie there; sleep awhile in your own dew,", "Ye faint-eyed children of the ... Hours,'", "Fiordispina said, and threw the flowers", "Which she had from the breathing--", "", "...", "", "A table near of polished porphyry.", "They seemed to wear a beauty from the eye", "That looked on them--a fragrance from the touch", "Whose warmth ... checked their life; a light such", "As sleepers wear, lulled by the voice they love, which did reprove", "The childish pity that she felt for them,", "And a ... remorse that from their stem", "She had divided such fair shapes ... made", "A feeling in the ... which was a shade", "Of gentle beauty on the flowers: there lay", "All gems that make the earth's dark bosom gay.", "... rods of myrtle-buds and lemon-blooms,", "And that leaf tinted lightly which assumes", "The livery of unremembered snow--", "Violets whose eyes have drunk--", "", "...", "", "Fiordispina and her nurse are now", "Upon the steps of the high portico,", "Under the withered arm of Media", "She flings her glowing arm", "", "...", "", "... step by step and stair by stair,", "That withered woman, gray and white and brown--", "More like a trunk by lichens overgrown", "Than anything which once could have been human.", "And ever as she goes the palsied woman", "", "...", "", "'How slow and painfully you seem to walk,", "Poor Media! you tire yourself with talk.'", "'And well it may,", "Fiordispina, dearest--well-a-day!", "You are hastening to a marriage-bed;", "I to the grave!'--'And if my love were dead,", "Unless my heart deceives me, I would lie", "Beside him in my shroud as willingly", "As now in the gay night-dress Lilla wrought.'", "'Fie, child! Let that unseasonable thought", "Not be remembered till it snows in June;", "Such fancies are a music out of tune", "With the sweet dance your heart must keep to-night.", "What! would you take all beauty and delight", "Back to the Paradise from which you sprung,", "And leave to grosser mortals?--", "And say, sweet lamb, would you not learn the sweet", "And subtle mystery by which spirits meet?", "Who knows whether the loving game is played,", "When, once of mortal disarrayed,", "The naked soul goes wandering here and there", "Through the wide deserts of Elysian air?", "The violet dies not till it'--" ], "linecount": "87" }, { "title": "Ghasta or, the Avenging Demon!!!", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Hark! the owlet flaps her wing,", "In the pathless dell beneath,", "Hark! night ravens loudly sing,", "Tidings of despair and death.--", "", "Horror covers all the sky,", "Clouds of darkness blot the moon,", "Prepare! for mortal thou must die,", "Prepare to yield thy soul up soon--", "", "Fierce the tempest raves around,", "Fierce the volleyed lightnings fly,", "Crashing thunder shakes the ground,", "Fire and tumult fill the sky.--", "", "Hark! the tolling village bell,", "Tells the hour of midnight come,", "Now can blast the powers of Hell,", "Fiend-like goblins now can roam--", "", "See! his crest all stained with rain,", "A warrior hastening speeds his way,", "He starts, looks round him, starts again,", "And sighs for the approach of day.", "", "See! his frantic steed he reins,", "See! he lifts his hands on high,", "Implores a respite to his pains,", "From the powers of the sky.--", "", "He seeks an Inn, for faint from toil,", "Fatigue had bent his lofty form,", "To rest his wearied limbs awhile,", "Fatigued with wandering and the storm.", "", "...", "...", "", "Slow the door is opened wide--", "With trackless tread a stranger came,", "His form Majestic, slow his stride,", "He sate, nor spake,--nor told his name--", "", "Terror blanched the warrior's cheek,", "Cold sweat from his forehead ran,", "In vain his tongue essayed to speak,--", "At last the stranger thus began:", "", "'Mortal! thou that saw'st the sprite,", "Tell me what I wish to know,", "Or come with me before 'tis light,", "Where cypress trees and mandrakes grow.", "", "'Fierce the avenging Demon's ire,", "Fiercer than the wintry blast,", "Fiercer than the lightning's fire,", "When the hour of twilight's past'--", "", "The warrior raised his sunken eye.", "It met the stranger's sullen scowl,", "'Mortal! Mortal! thou must die,'", "In burning letters chilled his soul.", "", "WARRIOR:", "Stranger! whoso'er you are,", "I feel impelled my tale to tell--", "Horrors stranger shalt thou hear,", "Horrors drear as those of Hell.", "", "O'er my Castle silence reigned,", "Late the night and drear the hour,", "When on the terrace I observed,", "A fleeting shadowy mist to lower.--", "", "Light the cloud as summer fog,", "Which transient shuns the morning beam;", "Fleeting as the cloud on bog,", "That hangs or on the mountain stream.--", "", "Horror seized my shuddering brain,", "Horror dimmed my starting eye.", "In vain I tried to speak,--In vain", "My limbs essayed the spot to fly--", "", "At last the thin and shadowy form,", "With noiseless, trackless footsteps came,--", "Its light robe floated on the storm,", "Its head was bound with lambent flame.", "", "In chilling voice drear as the breeze", "Which sweeps along th' autumnal ground,", "Which wanders through the leafless trees,", "Or the mandrake's groan which floats around.", "", "'Thou art mine and I am thine,", "'Till the sinking of the world,", "I am thine and thou art mine,", "'Till in ruin death is hurled--", "", "'Strong the power and dire the fate,", "Which drags me from the depths of Hell,", "Breaks the tomb's eternal gate,", "Where fiendish shapes and dead men yell,", "", "'Haply I might ne'er have shrank", "From flames that rack the guilty dead,", "Haply I might ne'er have sank", "On pleasure's flowery, thorny bed--", "", "--'But stay! no more I dare disclose,", "Of the tale I wish to tell,", "On Earth relentless were my woes,", "But fiercer are my pangs in Hell--", "", "'Now I claim thee as my love,", "Lay aside all chilling fear,", "My affection will I prove,", "Where sheeted ghosts and spectres are!", "", "'For thou art mine, and I am thine,", "'Till the dreaded judgement day,", "I am thine, and thou art mine--", "Night is past--I must away.'", "", "Still I gazed, and still the form", "Pressed upon my aching sight,", "Still I braved the howling storm,", "When the ghost dissolved in night.--", "", "Restless, sleepless fled the night,", "Sleepless as a sick man's bed,", "When he sighs for morning light,", "When he turns his aching head,--", "", "Slow and painful passed the day.", "Melancholy seized my brain,", "Lingering fled the hours away,", "Lingering to a wretch in pain.--", "", "At last came night, ah! horrid hour,", "Ah! chilling time that wakes the dead,", "When demons ride the clouds that lower,", "--The phantom sat upon my bed.", "", "In hollow voice, low as the sound", "Which in some charnel makes its moan,", "What floats along the burying ground,", "The phantom claimed me as her own.", "", "Her chilling finger on my head,", "With coldest touch congealed my soul--", "Cold as the finger of the dead,", "Or damps which round a tombstone roll--", "", "Months are passed in lingering round,", "Every night the spectre comes,", "With thrilling step it shakes the ground,", "With thrilling step it round me roams--", "", "Stranger! I have told to thee,", "All the tale I have to tell--", "Stranger! canst thou tell to me,", "How to 'scape the powers of Hell?--", "", "STRANGER:", "Warrior! I can ease thy woes,", "Wilt thou, wilt thou, come with me--", "Warrior! I can all disclose,", "Follow, follow, follow me.", "", "Yet the tempest's duskiest wing,", "Its mantle stretches o'er the sky,", "Yet the midnight ravens sing,", "'Mortal! Mortal! thou must die.'", "", "At last they saw a river clear,", "That crossed the heathy path they trod,", "The Stranger's look was wild and drear,", "The firm Earth shook beneath his nod--", "", "He raised a wand above his head,", "He traced a circle on the plain,", "In a wild verse he called the dead,", "The dead with silent footsteps came.", "", "A burning brilliance on his head,", "Flaming filled the stormy air,", "In a wild verse he called the dead,", "The dead in motley crowd were there.--", "", "'Ghasta! Ghasta! come along,", "Bring thy fiendish crowd with thee,", "Quickly raise th' avenging Song,", "Ghasta! Ghasta! come to me.'", "", "Horrid shapes in mantles gray,", "Flit athwart the stormy night,", "'Ghasta! Ghasta! come away,", "Come away before 'tis light.'", "", "See! the sheeted Ghost they bring,", "Yelling dreadful o'er the heath,", "Hark! the deadly verse they sing,", "Tidings of despair and death!", "", "The yelling Ghost before him stands,", "See! she rolls her eyes around,", "Now she lifts her bony hands,", "Now her footsteps shake the ground.", "", "STRANGER:", "Phantom of Theresa say,", "Why to earth again you came,", "Quickly speak, I must away!", "Or you must bleach for aye in flame,--", "", "PHANTOM:", "Mighty one I know thee now,", "Mightiest power of the sky,", "Know thee by thy flaming brow,", "Know thee by thy sparkling eye.", "", "That fire is scorching! Oh! I came,", "From the caverned depth of Hell,", "My fleeting false Rodolph to claim,", "Mighty one! I know thee well.--", "", "STRANGER:", "Ghasta! seize yon wandering sprite,", "Drag her to the depth beneath,", "Take her swift, before 'tis light,", "Take her to the cells of death!", "", "Thou that heardst the trackless dead,", "In the mouldering tomb must lie,", "Mortal! look upon my head,", "Mortal! Mortal! thou must die.", "", "Of glowing flame a cross was there,", "Which threw a light around his form,", "Whilst his lank and raven hair,", "Floated wild upon the storm.--", "", "The warrior upwards turned his eyes,", "Gazed upon the cross of fire,", "There sat horror and surprise,", "There sat God's eternal ire.--", "", "A shivering through the Warrior flew,", "Colder than the nightly blast,", "Colder than the evening dew,", "When the hour of twilight's past.--", "", "Thunder shakes th' expansive sky,", "Shakes the bosom of the heath,", "'Mortal! Mortal! thou must die'--", "The warrior sank convulsed in death." ], "linecount": "207" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "WHILOM, as olde stories tellen us,", "There was a duke that highte Theseus.", "Of Athens he was lord and governor,", "And in his time such a conqueror", "That greater was there none under the sun.", "Full many a riche country had he won.", "What with his wisdom and his chivalry,", "He conquer'd all the regne of Feminie,", "That whilom was y-cleped Scythia;", "And weddede the Queen Hippolyta", "And brought her home with him to his country", "With muchel glory and great solemnity,", "And eke her younge sister Emily,", "And thus with vict'ry and with melody", "Let I this worthy Duke to Athens ride,", "And all his host, in armes him beside.", "", "And certes, if it n'ere too long to hear,", "I would have told you fully the mannere,", "How wonnen was the regne of Feminie,", "By Theseus, and by his chivalry;", "And of the greate battle for the nonce", "Betwixt Athenes and the Amazons;", "And how assieged was Hippolyta,", "The faire hardy queen of Scythia;", "And of the feast that was at her wedding", "And of the tempest at her homecoming.", "But all these things I must as now forbear.", "I have, God wot, a large field to ear", "And weake be the oxen in my plough;", "The remnant of my tale is long enow.", "I will not letten eke none of this rout.", "Let every fellow tell his tale about,", "And let see now who shall the supper win.", "There as I left, I will again begin.", "", "This Duke, of whom I make mentioun,", "When he was come almost unto the town,", "In all his weal, and in his moste pride,", "He was ware, as he cast his eye aside,", "Where that there kneeled in the highe way", "A company of ladies, tway and tway,", "Each after other, clad in clothes black:", "But such a cry and such a woe they make,", "That in this world n'is creature living,", "That hearde such another waimenting", "And of this crying would they never stenten,", "Till they the reines of his bridle henten.", "\"What folk be ye that at mine homecoming", "Perturben so my feaste with crying?\"", "Quoth Theseus; \"Have ye so great envy", "Of mine honour, that thus complain and cry?", "Or who hath you misboden, or offended?", "Do telle me, if it may be amended;", "And why that ye be clad thus all in black?\"", "", "The oldest lady of them all then spake,", "When she had swooned, with a deadly cheer,", "That it was ruthe for to see or hear.", "She saide; \"Lord, to whom fortune hath given", "Vict'ry, and as a conqueror to liven,", "Nought grieveth us your glory and your honour;", "But we beseechen mercy and succour.", "Have mercy on our woe and our distress;", "Some drop of pity, through thy gentleness,", "Upon us wretched women let now fall.", "For certes, lord, there is none of us all", "That hath not been a duchess or a queen;", "Now be we caitives, as it is well seen:", "Thanked be Fortune, and her false wheel,", "That none estate ensureth to be wele.", "And certes, lord, t'abiden your presence", "Here in this temple of the goddess Clemence", "We have been waiting all this fortenight:", "Now help us, lord, since it lies in thy might.", "", "\"I, wretched wight, that weep and waile thus,", "Was whilom wife to king Capaneus,", "That starf at Thebes, cursed be that day:", "And alle we that be in this array,", "And maken all this lamentatioun,", "We losten all our husbands at that town,", "While that the siege thereabouten lay.", "And yet the olde Creon, wellaway!", "That lord is now of Thebes the city,", "Fulfilled of ire and of iniquity,", "He for despite, and for his tyranny,", "To do the deade bodies villainy,", "Of all our lorde's, which that been y-slaw,", "Hath all the bodies on an heap y-draw,", "And will not suffer them by none assent", "Neither to be y-buried, nor y-brent,", "But maketh houndes eat them in despite.\"", "And with that word, withoute more respite", "They fallen groff, and cryden piteously;", "\"Have on us wretched women some mercy,", "And let our sorrow sinken in thine heart.\"", "", "This gentle Duke down from his courser start", "With hearte piteous, when he heard them speak.", "Him thoughte that his heart would all to-break,", "When he saw them so piteous and so mate", "That whilom weren of so great estate.", "And in his armes he them all up hent,", "And them comforted in full good intent,", "And swore his oath, as he was true knight,", "He woulde do so farforthly his might", "Upon the tyrant Creon them to wreak,", "That all the people of Greece shoulde speak,", "How Creon was of Theseus y-served,", "As he that had his death full well deserved.", "And right anon withoute more abode", "His banner he display'd, and forth he rode", "To Thebes-ward, and all his, host beside:", "No ner Athenes would he go nor ride,", "Nor take his ease fully half a day,", "But onward on his way that night he lay:", "And sent anon Hippolyta the queen,", "And Emily her younge sister sheen", "Unto the town of Athens for to dwell:", "And forth he rit; there is no more to tell.", "", "The red statue of Mars with spear and targe", "So shineth in his white banner large", "That all the fieldes glitter up and down:", "And by his banner borne is his pennon", "Of gold full rich, in which there was y-beat", "The Minotaur which that he slew in Crete", "Thus rit this Duke, thus rit this conqueror", "And in his host of chivalry the flower,", "Till that he came to Thebes, and alight", "Fair in a field, there as he thought to fight.", "But shortly for to speaken of this thing,", "With Creon, which that was of Thebes king,", "He fought, and slew him manly as a knight", "In plain bataille, and put his folk to flight:", "And by assault he won the city after,", "And rent adown both wall, and spar, and rafter;", "And to the ladies he restored again", "The bodies of their husbands that were slain,", "To do obsequies, as was then the guise.", "", "But it were all too long for to devise", "The greate clamour, and the waimenting,", "Which that the ladies made at the brenning", "Of the bodies, and the great honour", "That Theseus the noble conqueror", "Did to the ladies, when they from him went:", "But shortly for to tell is mine intent.", "When that this worthy Duke, this Theseus,", "Had Creon slain, and wonnen Thebes thus,", "Still in the field he took all night his rest,", "And did with all the country as him lest.", "To ransack in the tas of bodies dead,", "Them for to strip of harness and of weed,", "The pillers did their business and cure,", "After the battle and discomfiture.", "And so befell, that in the tas they found,", "Through girt with many a grievous bloody wound,", "Two younge knightes ligging by and by", "Both in one armes, wrought full richely:", "Of whiche two, Arcita hight that one,", "And he that other highte Palamon.", "Not fully quick, nor fully dead they were,", "But by their coat-armour, and by their gear,", "The heralds knew them well in special,", "As those that weren of the blood royal", "Of Thebes, and of sistren two y-born.", "Out of the tas the pillers have them torn,", "And have them carried soft unto the tent", "Of Theseus, and he full soon them sent", "To Athens, for to dwellen in prison", "Perpetually, he n'olde no ranson.", "And when this worthy Duke had thus y-done,", "He took his host, and home he rit anon", "With laurel crowned as a conquerour;", "And there he lived in joy and in honour", "Term of his life; what needeth wordes mo'?", "And in a tower, in anguish and in woe,", "Dwellen this Palamon, and eke Arcite,", "For evermore, there may no gold them quite", "", "Thus passed year by year, and day by day,", "Till it fell ones in a morn of May", "That Emily, that fairer was to seen", "Than is the lily upon his stalke green,", "And fresher than the May with flowers new", "(For with the rose colour strove her hue;", "I n'ot which was the finer of them two),", "Ere it was day, as she was wont to do,", "She was arisen, and all ready dight,", "For May will have no sluggardy a-night;", "The season pricketh every gentle heart,", "And maketh him out of his sleep to start,", "And saith, \"Arise, and do thine observance.\"", "", "This maketh Emily have remembrance", "To do honour to May, and for to rise.", "Y-clothed was she fresh for to devise;", "Her yellow hair was braided in a tress,", "Behind her back, a yarde long I guess.", "And in the garden at the sun uprist", "She walketh up and down where as her list.", "She gathereth flowers, party white and red,", "To make a sotel garland for her head,", "And as an angel heavenly she sung.", "The greate tower, that was so thick and strong,", "Which of the castle was the chief dungeon", "(Where as these knightes weren in prison,", "Of which I tolde you, and telle shall),", "Was even joinant to the garden wall,", "There as this Emily had her playing.", "", "Bright was the sun, and clear that morrowning,", "And Palamon, this woful prisoner,", "As was his wont, by leave of his gaoler,", "Was ris'n, and roamed in a chamber on high,", "In which he all the noble city sigh,", "And eke the garden, full of branches green,", "There as this fresh Emelia the sheen", "Was in her walk, and roamed up and down.", "This sorrowful prisoner, this Palamon", "Went in his chamber roaming to and fro,", "And to himself complaining of his woe:", "That he was born, full oft he said, Alas!", "And so befell, by aventure or cas,", "That through a window thick of many a bar", "Of iron great, and square as any spar,", "He cast his eyes upon Emelia,", "And therewithal he blent and cried, Ah!", "As though he stungen were unto the heart.", "And with that cry Arcite anon up start,", "And saide, \"Cousin mine, what aileth thee,", "That art so pale and deadly for to see?", "Why cried'st thou? who hath thee done offence?", "For Godde's love, take all in patience", "Our prison, for it may none other be.", "Fortune hath giv'n us this adversity'.", "Some wick' aspect or disposition", "Of Saturn, by some constellation,", "Hath giv'n us this, although we had it sworn,", "So stood the heaven when that we were born,", "We must endure; this is the short and plain.", "", "This Palamon answer'd, and said again:", "\"Cousin, forsooth of this opinion", "Thou hast a vain imagination.", "This prison caused me not for to cry;", "But I was hurt right now thorough mine eye", "Into mine heart; that will my bane be.", "The fairness of the lady that I see", "Yond in the garden roaming to and fro,", "Is cause of all my crying and my woe.", "I n'ot wher she be woman or goddess,", "But Venus is it, soothly as I guess,", "And therewithal on knees adown he fill,", "And saide: \"Venus, if it be your will", "You in this garden thus to transfigure", "Before me sorrowful wretched creature,", "Out of this prison help that we may scape.", "And if so be our destiny be shape", "By etern word to dien in prison,", "Of our lineage have some compassion,", "That is so low y-brought by tyranny.\"", "", "And with that word Arcita gan espy", "Where as this lady roamed to and fro", "And with that sight her beauty hurt him so,", "That if that Palamon was wounded sore,", "Arcite is hurt as much as he, or more.", "And with a sigh he saide piteously:", "\"The freshe beauty slay'th me suddenly", "Of her that roameth yonder in the place.", "And but I have her mercy and her grace,", "That I may see her at the leaste way,", "I am but dead; there is no more to say.\"", "This Palamon, when he these wordes heard,", "Dispiteously he looked, and answer'd:", "\"Whether say'st thou this in earnest or in play?\"", "\"Nay,\" quoth Arcite, \"in earnest, by my fay.", "God help me so, me lust full ill to play.\"", "This Palamon gan knit his browes tway.", "\"It were,\" quoth he, \"to thee no great honour", "For to be false, nor for to be traitour", "To me, that am thy cousin and thy brother", "Y-sworn full deep, and each of us to other,", "That never for to dien in the pain ,", "Till that the death departen shall us twain,", "Neither of us in love to hinder other,", "Nor in none other case, my leve brother;", "But that thou shouldest truly farther me", "In every case, as I should farther thee.", "This was thine oath, and mine also certain;", "I wot it well, thou dar'st it not withsayn,", "Thus art thou of my counsel out of doubt,", "And now thou wouldest falsely be about", "To love my lady, whom I love and serve,", "And ever shall, until mine hearte sterve", "Now certes, false Arcite, thou shalt not so", "I lov'd her first, and tolde thee my woe", "As to my counsel, and my brother sworn", "To farther me, as I have told beforn.", "For which thou art y-bounden as a knight", "To helpe me, if it lie in thy might,", "Or elles art thou false, I dare well sayn,\"", "", "This Arcita full proudly spake again:", "\"Thou shalt,\" quoth he, \"be rather false than I,", "And thou art false, I tell thee utterly;", "For par amour I lov'd her first ere thou.", "What wilt thou say? thou wist it not right now", "Whether she be a woman or goddess.", "Thine is affection of holiness,", "And mine is love, as to a creature:", "For which I tolde thee mine aventure", "As to my cousin, and my brother sworn", "I pose, that thou loved'st her beforn:", "Wost thou not well the olde clerke's saw,", "That who shall give a lover any law?", "Love is a greater lawe, by my pan,", "Than may be giv'n to any earthly man:", "Therefore positive law, and such decree,", "Is broke alway for love in each degree", "A man must needes love, maugre his head.", "He may not flee it, though he should be dead,", "All be she maid, or widow, or else wife.", "And eke it is not likely all thy life", "To standen in her grace, no more than I", "For well thou wost thyselfe verily,", "That thou and I be damned to prison", "Perpetual, us gaineth no ranson.", "We strive, as did the houndes for the bone;", "They fought all day, and yet their part was none.", "There came a kite, while that they were so wroth,", "And bare away the bone betwixt them both.", "And therefore at the kinge's court, my brother,", "Each man for himselfe, there is no other.", "Love if thee list; for I love and aye shall", "And soothly, leve brother, this is all.", "Here in this prison musten we endure,", "And each of us take his Aventure.\"", "", "Great was the strife and long between these tway,", "If that I hadde leisure for to say;", "But to the effect: it happen'd on a day", "(To tell it you as shortly as I may),", "A worthy duke that hight Perithous", "That fellow was to the Duke Theseus", "Since thilke day that they were children lite", "Was come to Athens, his fellow to visite,", "And for to play, as he was wont to do;", "For in this world he loved no man so;", "And he lov'd him as tenderly again.", "So well they lov'd, as olde bookes sayn,", "That when that one was dead, soothly to sayn,", "His fellow went and sought him down in hell:", "But of that story list me not to write.", "Duke Perithous loved well Arcite,", "And had him known at Thebes year by year:", "And finally at request and prayere", "Of Perithous, withoute ranson", "Duke Theseus him let out of prison,", "Freely to go, where him list over all,", "In such a guise, as I you tellen shall", "This was the forword, plainly to indite,", "Betwixte Theseus and him Arcite:", "That if so were, that Arcite were y-found", "Ever in his life, by day or night, one stound", "In any country of this Theseus,", "And he were caught, it was accorded thus,", "That with a sword he shoulde lose his head;", "There was none other remedy nor rede.", "But took his leave, and homeward he him sped;", "Let him beware, his necke lieth to wed.", "", "How great a sorrow suff'reth now Arcite!", "The death he feeleth through his hearte smite;", "He weepeth, waileth, crieth piteously;", "To slay himself he waiteth privily.", "He said; \"Alas the day that I was born!", "Now is my prison worse than beforn:", "Now is me shape eternally to dwell", "Not in purgatory, but right in hell.", "Alas! that ever I knew Perithous.", "For elles had I dwelt with Theseus", "Y-fettered in his prison evermo'.", "Then had I been in bliss, and not in woe.", "Only the sight of her, whom that I serve,", "Though that I never may her grace deserve,", "Would have sufficed right enough for me.", "O deare cousin Palamon,\" quoth he,", "\"Thine is the vict'ry of this aventure,", "Full blissfully in prison to endure:", "In prison? nay certes, in paradise.", "Well hath fortune y-turned thee the dice,", "That hast the sight of her, and I th' absence.", "For possible is, since thou hast her presence,", "And art a knight, a worthy and an able,", "That by some cas, since fortune is changeable,", "Thou may'st to thy desire sometime attain.", "But I that am exiled, and barren", "Of alle grace, and in so great despair,", "That there n'is earthe, water, fire, nor air,", "Nor creature, that of them maked is,", "That may me helpe nor comfort in this,", "Well ought I sterve in wanhope and distress.", "Farewell my life, my lust, and my gladness.", "Alas, why plainen men so in commune", "Of purveyance of God, or of Fortune,", "That giveth them full oft in many a guise", "Well better than they can themselves devise?", "Some man desireth for to have richess,", "That cause is of his murder or great sickness.", "And some man would out of his prison fain,", "That in his house is of his meinie slain.", "Infinite harmes be in this mattere.", "We wot never what thing we pray for here.", "We fare as he that drunk is as a mouse.", "A drunken man wot well he hath an house,", "But he wot not which is the right way thither,", "And to a drunken man the way is slither.", "And certes in this world so fare we.", "We seeke fast after felicity,", "But we go wrong full often truely.", "Thus we may sayen all, and namely I,", "That ween'd, and had a great opinion,", "That if I might escape from prison", "Then had I been in joy and perfect heal,", "Where now I am exiled from my weal.", "Since that I may not see you, Emily,", "I am but dead; there is no remedy.\"", "", "Upon that other side, Palamon,", "When that he wist Arcita was agone,", "Much sorrow maketh, that the greate tower", "Resounded of his yelling and clamour", "The pure fetters on his shinnes great", "Were of his bitter salte teares wet.", "", "\"Alas!\" quoth he, \"Arcita, cousin mine,", "Of all our strife, God wot, the fruit is thine.", "Thou walkest now in Thebes at thy large,", "And of my woe thou givest little charge.", "Thou mayst, since thou hast wisdom and manhead,", "Assemble all the folk of our kindred,", "And make a war so sharp on this country", "That by some aventure, or some treaty,", "Thou mayst have her to lady and to wife,", "For whom that I must needes lose my life.", "For as by way of possibility,", "Since thou art at thy large, of prison free,", "And art a lord, great is thine avantage,", "More than is mine, that sterve here in a cage.", "For I must weep and wail, while that I live,", "With all the woe that prison may me give,", "And eke with pain that love me gives also,", "That doubles all my torment and my woe.\"", "", "Therewith the fire of jealousy upstart", "Within his breast, and hent him by the heart", "So woodly, that he like was to behold", "The box-tree, or the ashes dead and cold.", "Then said; \"O cruel goddess, that govern", "This world with binding of your word etern", "And writen in the table of adamant", "Your parlement and your eternal grant,", "What is mankind more unto you y-hold", "Than is the sheep, that rouketh in the fold!", "For slain is man, right as another beast;", "And dwelleth eke in prison and arrest,", "And hath sickness, and great adversity,", "And oftentimes guilteless, pardie", "What governance is in your prescience,", "That guilteless tormenteth innocence?", "And yet increaseth this all my penance,", "That man is bounden to his observance", "For Godde's sake to letten of his will,", "Whereas a beast may all his lust fulfil.", "And when a beast is dead, he hath no pain;", "But man after his death must weep and plain,", "Though in this worlde he have care and woe:", "Withoute doubt it maye standen so.", "\"The answer of this leave I to divines,", "But well I wot, that in this world great pine is;", "Alas! I see a serpent or a thief", "That many a true man hath done mischief,", "Go at his large, and where him list may turn.", "But I must be in prison through Saturn,", "And eke through Juno, jealous and eke wood,", "That hath well nigh destroyed all the blood", "Of Thebes, with his waste walles wide.", "And Venus slay'th me on that other side", "For jealousy, and fear of him, Arcite.\"", "", "Now will I stent of Palamon a lite,", "And let him in his prison stille dwell,", "And of Arcita forth I will you tell.", "The summer passeth, and the nightes long", "Increase double-wise the paines strong", "Both of the lover and the prisonere.", "I n'ot which hath the wofuller mistere.", "For, shortly for to say, this Palamon", "Perpetually is damned to prison,", "In chaines and in fetters to be dead;", "And Arcite is exiled on his head", "For evermore as out of that country,", "Nor never more he shall his lady see.", "You lovers ask I now this question,", "Who lieth the worse, Arcite or Palamon?", "The one may see his lady day by day,", "But in prison he dwelle must alway.", "The other where him list may ride or go,", "But see his lady shall he never mo'.", "Now deem all as you liste, ye that can,", "For I will tell you forth as I began.", "", "When that Arcite to Thebes comen was,", "Full oft a day he swelt, and said, \"Alas!\"", "For see this lady he shall never mo'.", "And shortly to concluden all his woe,", "So much sorrow had never creature", "That is or shall be while the world may dure.", "His sleep, his meat, his drink is him byraft,", "That lean he wex, and dry as any shaft.", "His eyen hollow, grisly to behold,", "His hue sallow, and pale as ashes cold,", "And solitary he was, ever alone,", "And wailing all the night, making his moan.", "And if he hearde song or instrument,", "Then would he weepen, he might not be stent.", "So feeble were his spirits, and so low,", "And changed so, that no man coulde know", "His speech, neither his voice, though men it heard.", "And in his gear for all the world he far'd", "Not only like the lovers' malady", "Of Eros, but rather y-like manie", "Engender'd of humours melancholic,", "Before his head in his cell fantastic.", "And shortly turned was all upside down,", "Both habit and eke dispositioun,", "Of him, this woful lover Dan Arcite.", "Why should I all day of his woe indite?", "When he endured had a year or two", "This cruel torment, and this pain and woe,", "At Thebes, in his country, as I said,", "Upon a night in sleep as he him laid,", "Him thought how that the winged god Mercury", "Before him stood, and bade him to be merry.", "His sleepy yard in hand he bare upright;", "A hat he wore upon his haires bright.", "Arrayed was this god (as he took keep)", "As he was when that Argus took his sleep;", "And said him thus: \"To Athens shalt thou wend;", "There is thee shapen of thy woe an end.\"", "And with that word Arcite woke and start.", "\"Now truely how sore that e'er me smart,\"", "Quoth he, \"to Athens right now will I fare.", "Nor for no dread of death shall I not spare", "To see my lady that I love and serve;", "In her presence I recke not to sterve.\"", "And with that word he caught a great mirror,", "And saw that changed was all his colour,", "And saw his visage all in other kind.", "And right anon it ran him ill his mind,", "That since his face was so disfigur'd", "Of malady the which he had endur'd,", "He mighte well, if that he bare him low,", "Live in Athenes evermore unknow,", "And see his lady wellnigh day by day.", "And right anon he changed his array,", "And clad him as a poore labourer.", "And all alone, save only a squier,", "That knew his privity and all his cas,", "Which was disguised poorly as he was,", "To Athens is he gone the nexte way.", "And to the court he went upon a day,", "And at the gate he proffer'd his service,", "To drudge and draw, what so men would devise.", "And, shortly of this matter for to sayn,", "He fell in office with a chamberlain,", "The which that dwelling was with Emily.", "For he was wise, and coulde soon espy", "Of every servant which that served her.", "Well could he hewe wood, and water bear,", "For he was young and mighty for the nones,", "And thereto he was strong and big of bones", "To do that any wight can him devise.", "", "A year or two he was in this service,", "Page of the chamber of Emily the bright;", "And Philostrate he saide that he hight.", "But half so well belov'd a man as he", "Ne was there never in court of his degree.", "He was so gentle of conditioun,", "That throughout all the court was his renown.", "They saide that it were a charity", "That Theseus would enhance his degree,", "And put him in some worshipful service,", "There as he might his virtue exercise.", "And thus within a while his name sprung", "Both of his deedes, and of his good tongue,", "That Theseus hath taken him so near,", "That of his chamber he hath made him squire,", "And gave him gold to maintain his degree;", "And eke men brought him out of his country", "From year to year full privily his rent.", "But honestly and slyly he it spent,", "That no man wonder'd how that he it had.", "And three year in this wise his life be lad,", "And bare him so in peace and eke in werre,", "There was no man that Theseus had so derre.", "And in this blisse leave I now Arcite,", "And speak I will of Palamon a lite.", "", "In darkness horrible, and strong prison,", "This seven year hath sitten Palamon,", "Forpined, what for love, and for distress.", "Who feeleth double sorrow and heaviness", "But Palamon? that love distraineth so,", "That wood out of his wits he went for woe,", "And eke thereto he is a prisonere", "Perpetual, not only for a year.", "Who coulde rhyme in English properly", "His martyrdom? forsooth, it is not I;", "Therefore I pass as lightly as I may.", "It fell that in the seventh year, in May", "The thirde night (as olde bookes sayn,", "That all this story tellen more plain),", "Were it by a venture or destiny", "(As when a thing is shapen it shall be),", "That soon after the midnight, Palamon", "By helping of a friend brake his prison,", "And fled the city fast as he might go,", "For he had given drink his gaoler so", "Of a clary , made of a certain wine,", "With narcotise and opie of Thebes fine,", "That all the night, though that men would him shake,", "The gaoler slept, he mighte not awake:", "And thus he fled as fast as ever he may.", "The night was short, and faste by the day", "That needes cast he must himself to hide.", "And to a grove faste there beside", "With dreadful foot then stalked Palamon.", "For shortly this was his opinion,", "That in the grove he would him hide all day,", "And in the night then would he take his way", "To Thebes-ward, his friendes for to pray", "On Theseus to help him to warray.", "And shortly either he would lose his life,", "Or winnen Emily unto his wife.", "This is th' effect, and his intention plain.", "", "Now will I turn to Arcita again,", "That little wist how nighe was his care,", "Till that Fortune had brought him in the snare.", "The busy lark, the messenger of day,", "Saluteth in her song the morning gray;", "And fiery Phoebus riseth up so bright,", "That all the orient laugheth at the sight,", "And with his streames drieth in the greves", "The silver droppes, hanging on the leaves;", "And Arcite, that is in the court royal", "With Theseus, his squier principal,", "Is ris'n, and looketh on the merry day.", "And for to do his observance to May,", "Remembering the point of his desire,", "He on his courser, starting as the fire,", "Is ridden to the fieldes him to play,", "Out of the court, were it a mile or tway.", "And to the grove, of which I have you told,", "By a venture his way began to hold,", "To make him a garland of the greves,", "Were it of woodbine, or of hawthorn leaves,", "And loud he sang against the sun so sheen.", "\"O May, with all thy flowers and thy green,", "Right welcome be thou, faire freshe May,", "I hope that I some green here getten may.\"", "And from his courser, with a lusty heart,", "Into the grove full hastily he start,", "And in a path he roamed up and down,", "There as by aventure this Palamon", "Was in a bush, that no man might him see,", "For sore afeard of his death was he.", "Nothing ne knew he that it was Arcite;", "God wot he would have trowed it full lite.", "But sooth is said, gone since full many years,", "The field hath eyen, and the wood hath ears,", "It is full fair a man to bear him even,", "For all day meeten men at unset steven.", "Full little wot Arcite of his fellaw,", "That was so nigh to hearken of his saw,", "For in the bush he sitteth now full still.", "When that Arcite had roamed all his fill,", "And sungen all the roundel lustily,", "Into a study he fell suddenly,", "As do those lovers in their quainte gears,", "Now in the crop, and now down in the breres,", "Now up, now down, as bucket in a well.", "Right as the Friday, soothly for to tell,", "Now shineth it, and now it raineth fast,", "Right so can geary Venus overcast", "The heartes of her folk, right as her day", "Is gearful, right so changeth she array.", "Seldom is Friday all the weeke like.", "When Arcite had y-sung, he gan to sike,", "And sat him down withouten any more:", "\"Alas!\" quoth he, \"the day that I was bore!", "How longe, Juno, through thy cruelty", "Wilt thou warrayen Thebes the city?", "Alas! y-brought is to confusion", "The blood royal of Cadm' and Amphion:", "Of Cadmus, which that was the firste man,", "That Thebes built, or first the town began,", "And of the city first was crowned king.", "Of his lineage am I, and his offspring", "By very line, as of the stock royal;", "And now I am so caitiff and so thrall,", "That he that is my mortal enemy,", "I serve him as his squier poorely.", "And yet doth Juno me well more shame,", "For I dare not beknow mine owen name,", "But there as I was wont to hight Arcite,", "Now hight I Philostrate, not worth a mite.", "Alas! thou fell Mars, and alas! Juno,", "Thus hath your ire our lineage all fordo", "Save only me, and wretched Palamon,", "That Theseus martyreth in prison.", "And over all this, to slay me utterly,", "Love hath his fiery dart so brenningly", "Y-sticked through my true careful heart,", "That shapen was my death erst than my shert.", "Ye slay me with your eyen, Emily;", "Ye be the cause wherefore that I die.", "Of all the remnant of mine other care", "Ne set I not the mountance of a tare,", "So that I could do aught to your pleasance.\"", "", "And with that word he fell down in a trance", "A longe time; and afterward upstart", "This Palamon, that thought thorough his heart", "He felt a cold sword suddenly to glide:", "For ire he quoke, no longer would he hide.", "And when that he had heard Arcite's tale,", "As he were wood, with face dead and pale,", "He start him up out of the bushes thick,", "And said: \"False Arcita, false traitor wick',", "Now art thou hent, that lov'st my lady so,", "For whom that I have all this pain and woe,", "And art my blood, and to my counsel sworn,", "As I full oft have told thee herebeforn,", "And hast bejaped here Duke Theseus,", "And falsely changed hast thy name thus;", "I will be dead, or elles thou shalt die.", "Thou shalt not love my lady Emily,", "But I will love her only and no mo';", "For I am Palamon thy mortal foe.", "And though I have no weapon in this place,", "But out of prison am astart by grace,", "I dreade not that either thou shalt die,", "Or else thou shalt not loven Emily.", "Choose which thou wilt, for thou shalt not astart.\"", "", "This Arcite then, with full dispiteous heart,", "When he him knew, and had his tale heard,", "As fierce as lion pulled out a swerd,", "And saide thus; \"By God that sitt'th above,", "N'ere it that thou art sick, and wood for love,", "And eke that thou no weap'n hast in this place,", "Thou should'st never out of this grove pace,", "That thou ne shouldest dien of mine hand.", "For I defy the surety and the band,", "Which that thou sayest I have made to thee.", "What? very fool, think well that love is free;", "And I will love her maugre all thy might.", "But, for thou art a worthy gentle knight,", "And wilnest to darraine her by bataille,", "Have here my troth, to-morrow I will not fail,", "Without weeting of any other wight,", "That here I will be founden as a knight,", "And bringe harness right enough for thee;", "And choose the best, and leave the worst for me.", "And meat and drinke this night will I bring", "Enough for thee, and clothes for thy bedding.", "And if so be that thou my lady win,", "And slay me in this wood that I am in,", "Thou may'st well have thy lady as for me.\"", "This Palamon answer'd, \"I grant it thee.\"", "And thus they be departed till the morrow,", "When each of them hath laid his faith to borrow.", "", "O Cupid, out of alle charity!", "O Regne that wilt no fellow have with thee!", "Full sooth is said, that love nor lordeship", "Will not, his thanks, have any fellowship.", "Well finden that Arcite and Palamon.", "Arcite is ridd anon unto the town,", "And on the morrow, ere it were daylight,", "Full privily two harness hath he dight,", "Both suffisant and meete to darraine", "The battle in the field betwixt them twain.", "And on his horse, alone as he was born,", "He carrieth all this harness him beforn;", "And in the grove, at time and place y-set,", "This Arcite and this Palamon be met.", "Then change gan the colour of their face;", "Right as the hunter in the regne of Thrace", "That standeth at a gappe with a spear", "When hunted is the lion or the bear,", "And heareth him come rushing in the greves,", "And breaking both the boughes and the leaves,", "Thinketh, \"Here comes my mortal enemy,", "Withoute fail, he must be dead or I;", "For either I must slay him at the gap;", "Or he must slay me, if that me mishap:\"", "So fared they, in changing of their hue", "As far as either of them other knew.", "There was no good day, and no saluting,", "But straight, withoute wordes rehearsing,", "Evereach of them holp to arm the other,", "As friendly, as he were his owen brother.", "And after that, with sharpe speares strong", "They foined each at other wonder long.", "Thou mightest weene, that this Palamon", "In fighting were as a wood lion,", "And as a cruel tiger was Arcite:", "As wilde boars gan they together smite,", "That froth as white as foam, for ire wood.", "Up to the ancle fought they in their blood.", "And in this wise I let them fighting dwell,", "And forth I will of Theseus you tell.", "", "The Destiny, minister general,", "That executeth in the world o'er all", "The purveyance, that God hath seen beforn;", "So strong it is, that though the world had sworn", "The contrary of a thing by yea or nay,", "Yet some time it shall fallen on a day", "That falleth not eft in a thousand year.", "For certainly our appetites here,", "Be it of war, or peace, or hate, or love,", "All is this ruled by the sight above.", "This mean I now by mighty Theseus,", "That for to hunten is so desirous --", "And namely the greate hart in May --", "That in his bed there dawneth him no day", "That he n'is clad, and ready for to ride", "With hunt and horn, and houndes him beside.", "For in his hunting hath he such delight,", "That it is all his joy and appetite", "To be himself the greate harte's bane", "For after Mars he serveth now Diane.", "Clear was the day, as I have told ere this,", "And Theseus, with alle joy and bliss,", "With his Hippolyta, the faire queen,", "And Emily, y-clothed all in green,", "On hunting be they ridden royally.", "And to the grove, that stood there faste by,", "In which there was an hart, as men him told,", "Duke Theseus the straighte way doth hold,", "And to the laund he rideth him full right,", "There was the hart y-wont to have his flight,", "And over a brook, and so forth on his way.", "This Duke will have a course at him or tway", "With houndes, such as him lust to command.", "And when this Duke was come to the laund,", "Under the sun he looked, and anon", "He was ware of Arcite and Palamon,", "That foughte breme, as it were bulles two.", "The brighte swordes wente to and fro", "So hideously, that with the leaste stroke", "It seemed that it woulde fell an oak,", "But what they were, nothing yet he wote.", "This Duke his courser with his spurres smote,", "And at a start he was betwixt them two,", "And pulled out a sword and cried, \"Ho!", "No more, on pain of losing of your head.", "By mighty Mars, he shall anon be dead", "That smiteth any stroke, that I may see!", "But tell to me what mister men ye be,", "That be so hardy for to fighte here", "Withoute judge or other officer,", "As though it were in listes royally.", "This Palamon answered hastily,", "And saide: \"Sir, what needeth wordes mo'?", "We have the death deserved bothe two,", "Two woful wretches be we, and caitives,", "That be accumbered of our own lives,", "And as thou art a rightful lord and judge,", "So give us neither mercy nor refuge.", "And slay me first, for sainte charity,", "But slay my fellow eke as well as me.", "Or slay him first; for, though thou know it lite,", "This is thy mortal foe, this is Arcite", "That from thy land is banisht on his head,", "For which he hath deserved to be dead.", "For this is he that came unto thy gate", "And saide, that he highte Philostrate.", "Thus hath he japed thee full many year,", "And thou hast made of him thy chief esquier;", "And this is he, that loveth Emily.", "For since the day is come that I shall die", "I make pleinly my confession,", "That I am thilke woful Palamon,", "That hath thy prison broken wickedly.", "I am thy mortal foe, and it am I", "That so hot loveth Emily the bright,", "That I would die here present in her sight.", "Therefore I aske death and my jewise.", "But slay my fellow eke in the same wise,", "For both we have deserved to be slain.\"", "", "This worthy Duke answer'd anon again,", "And said, \"This is a short conclusion.", "Your own mouth, by your own confession", "Hath damned you, and I will it record;", "It needeth not to pain you with the cord;", "Ye shall be dead, by mighty Mars the Red.", "", "The queen anon for very womanhead", "Began to weep, and so did Emily,", "And all the ladies in the company.", "Great pity was it as it thought them all,", "That ever such a chance should befall,", "For gentle men they were, of great estate,", "And nothing but for love was this debate", "They saw their bloody woundes wide and sore,", "And cried all at once, both less and more,", "\"Have mercy, Lord, upon us women all.\"", "And on their bare knees adown they fall", "And would have kissed his feet there as he stood,", "Till at the last aslaked was his mood", "(For pity runneth soon in gentle heart);", "And though at first for ire he quoke and start", "He hath consider'd shortly in a clause", "The trespass of them both, and eke the cause:", "And although that his ire their guilt accused", "Yet in his reason he them both excused;", "As thus; he thoughte well that every man", "Will help himself in love if that he can,", "And eke deliver himself out of prison.", "Of women, for they wepten ever-in-one:", "And eke his hearte had compassion", "And in his gentle heart he thought anon,", "And soft unto himself he saide: \"Fie", "Upon a lord that will have no mercy,", "But be a lion both in word and deed,", "To them that be in repentance and dread,", "As well as-to a proud dispiteous man", "That will maintaine what he first began.", "That lord hath little of discretion,", "That in such case can no division:", "But weigheth pride and humbless after one.\"", "And shortly, when his ire is thus agone,", "He gan to look on them with eyen light,", "And spake these same wordes all on height.", "", "\"The god of love, ah! benedicite,", "How mighty and how great a lord is he!", "Against his might there gaine none obstacles,", "He may be called a god for his miracles", "For he can maken at his owen guise", "Of every heart, as that him list devise.", "Lo here this Arcite, and this Palamon,", "That quietly were out of my prison,", "And might have lived in Thebes royally,", "And weet I am their mortal enemy,", "And that their death li'th in my might also,", "And yet hath love, maugre their eyen two,", "Y-brought them hither bothe for to die.", "Now look ye, is not this an high folly?", "Who may not be a fool, if but he love?", "Behold, for Godde's sake that sits above,", "See how they bleed! be they not well array'd?", "Thus hath their lord, the god of love, them paid", "Their wages and their fees for their service;", "And yet they weene for to be full wise,", "That serve love, for aught that may befall.", "But this is yet the beste game of all,", "That she, for whom they have this jealousy,", "Can them therefor as muchel thank as me.", "She wot no more of all this hote fare,", "By God, than wot a cuckoo or an hare.", "But all must be assayed hot or cold;", "A man must be a fool, or young or old;", "I wot it by myself full yore agone:", "For in my time a servant was I one.", "And therefore since I know of love's pain,", "And wot how sore it can a man distrain,", "As he that oft hath been caught in his last,", "I you forgive wholly this trespass,", "At request of the queen that kneeleth here,", "And eke of Emily, my sister dear.", "And ye shall both anon unto me swear,", "That never more ye shall my country dere", "Nor make war upon me night nor day,", "But be my friends in alle that ye may.", "I you forgive this trespass every deal.", "And they him sware his asking fair and well,", "And him of lordship and of mercy pray'd,", "And he them granted grace, and thus he said:", "", "\"To speak of royal lineage and richess,", "Though that she were a queen or a princess,", "Each of you both is worthy doubteless", "To wedde when time is; but natheless", "I speak as for my sister Emily,", "For whom ye have this strife and jealousy,", "Ye wot yourselves, she may not wed the two", "At once, although ye fight for evermo:", "But one of you, all be him loth or lief,", "He must go pipe into an ivy leaf:", "This is to say, she may not have you both,", "All be ye never so jealous, nor so wroth.", "And therefore I you put in this degree,", "That each of you shall have his destiny", "As him is shape; and hearken in what wise", "Lo hear your end of that I shall devise.", "My will is this, for plain conclusion", "Withouten any replication,", "If that you liketh, take it for the best,", "That evereach of you shall go where him lest,", "Freely without ransom or danger;", "And this day fifty weekes, farre ne nerre,", "Evereach of you shall bring an hundred knights,", "Armed for listes up at alle rights", "All ready to darraine her by bataille,", "And this behete I you withoute fail", "Upon my troth, and as I am a knight,", "That whether of you bothe that hath might,", "That is to say, that whether he or thou", "May with his hundred, as I spake of now,", "Slay his contrary, or out of listes drive,", "Him shall I given Emily to wive,", "To whom that fortune gives so fair a grace.", "The listes shall I make here in this place.", "And God so wisly on my soule rue,", "As I shall even judge be and true.", "Ye shall none other ende with me maken", "Than one of you shalle be dead or taken.", "And if you thinketh this is well y-said,", "Say your advice, and hold yourselves apaid.", "This is your end, and your conclusion.\"", "Who looketh lightly now but Palamon?", "Who springeth up for joye but Arcite?", "Who could it tell, or who could it indite,", "The joye that is maked in the place", "When Theseus hath done so fair a grace?", "But down on knees went every manner wight,", "And thanked him with all their heartes' might,", "And namely these Thebans ofte sithe.", "And thus with good hope and with hearte blithe", "They take their leave, and homeward gan they ride", "To Thebes-ward, with his old walles wide.", "", "I trow men woulde deem it negligence,", "If I forgot to telle the dispence", "Of Theseus, that went so busily", "To maken up the listes royally,", "That such a noble theatre as it was,", "I dare well say, in all this world there n'as.", "The circuit a mile was about,", "Walled of stone, and ditched all without.", "Round was the shape, in manner of compass,", "Full of degrees, the height of sixty pas", "That when a man was set on one degree", "He letted not his fellow for to see.", "Eastward there stood a gate of marble white,", "Westward right such another opposite.", "And, shortly to conclude, such a place", "Was never on earth made in so little space,", "For in the land there was no craftes-man,", "That geometry or arsmetrike can,", "Nor pourtrayor, nor carver of images,", "That Theseus ne gave him meat and wages", "The theatre to make and to devise.", "And for to do his rite and sacrifice", "He eastward hath upon the gate above,", "In worship of Venus, goddess of love,", "Done make an altar and an oratory;", "And westward, in the mind and in memory", "Of Mars, he maked hath right such another,", "That coste largely of gold a fother.", "And northward, in a turret on the wall,", "Of alabaster white and red coral", "An oratory riche for to see,", "In worship of Diane of chastity,", "Hath Theseus done work in noble wise.", "But yet had I forgotten to devise", "The noble carving, and the portraitures,", "The shape, the countenance of the figures", "That weren in there oratories three.", "", "First in the temple of Venus may'st thou see", "Wrought on the wall, full piteous to behold,", "The broken sleepes, and the sikes cold,", "The sacred teares, and the waimentings,", "The fiery strokes of the desirings,", "That Love's servants in this life endure;", "The oathes, that their covenants assure.", "Pleasance and Hope, Desire, Foolhardiness,", "Beauty and Youth, and Bawdry and Richess,", "Charms and Sorc'ry, Leasings and Flattery,", "Dispence, Business, and Jealousy,", "That wore of yellow goldes a garland,", "And had a cuckoo sitting on her hand,", "Feasts, instruments, and caroles and dances,", "Lust and array, and all the circumstances", "Of Love, which I reckon'd and reckon shall", "In order, were painted on the wall,", "And more than I can make of mention.", "For soothly all the mount of Citheron,", "Where Venus hath her principal dwelling,", "Was showed on the wall in pourtraying,", "With all the garden, and the lustiness.", "Nor was forgot the porter Idleness,", "Nor Narcissus the fair of yore agone,", "Nor yet the folly of King Solomon,", "Nor yet the greate strength of Hercules,", "Th' enchantments of Medea and Circes,", "Nor of Turnus the hardy fierce courage,", "The rich Croesus caitif in servage.", "Thus may ye see, that wisdom nor richess,", "Beauty, nor sleight, nor strength, nor hardiness", "Ne may with Venus holde champartie,", "For as her liste the world may she gie.", "Lo, all these folk so caught were in her las", "Till they for woe full often said, Alas!", "Suffice these ensamples one or two,", "Although I could reckon a thousand mo'.", "", "The statue of Venus, glorious to see", "Was naked floating in the large sea,", "And from the navel down all cover'd was", "With waves green, and bright as any glass.", "A citole in her right hand hadde she,", "And on her head, full seemly for to see,", "A rose garland fresh, and well smelling,", "Above her head her doves flickering", "Before her stood her sone Cupido,", "Upon his shoulders winges had he two;", "And blind he was, as it is often seen;", "A bow he bare, and arrows bright and keen.", "", "Why should I not as well eke tell you all", "The portraiture, that was upon the wall", "Within the temple of mighty Mars the Red?", "All painted was the wall in length and brede", "Like to the estres of the grisly place", "That hight the great temple of Mars in Thrace,", "In thilke cold and frosty region,", "There as Mars hath his sovereign mansion.", "In which there dwelled neither man nor beast,", "With knotty gnarry barren trees old", "Of stubbes sharp and hideous to behold;", "In which there ran a rumble and a sough,", "As though a storm should bursten every bough:", "And downward from an hill under a bent", "There stood the temple of Mars Armipotent,", "Wrought all of burnish'd steel, of which th' entry", "Was long and strait, and ghastly for to see.", "And thereout came a rage and such a vise,", "That it made all the gates for to rise.", "The northern light in at the doore shone,", "For window on the walle was there none", "Through which men mighten any light discern.", "The doors were all of adamant etern,", "Y-clenched overthwart and ende-long", "With iron tough, and, for to make it strong,", "Every pillar the temple to sustain", "Was tunne-great, of iron bright and sheen.", "There saw I first the dark imagining", "Of felony, and all the compassing;", "The cruel ire, as red as any glede,", "The picke-purse, and eke the pale dread;", "The smiler with the knife under the cloak,", "The shepen burning with the blacke smoke", "The treason of the murd'ring in the bed,", "The open war, with woundes all be-bled;", "Conteke with bloody knife, and sharp menace.", "All full of chirking was that sorry place.", "The slayer of himself eke saw I there,", "His hearte-blood had bathed all his hair:", "The nail y-driven in the shode at night,", "The colde death, with mouth gaping upright.", "Amiddes of the temple sat Mischance,", "With discomfort and sorry countenance;", "Eke saw I Woodness laughing in his rage,", "Armed Complaint, Outhees, and fierce Outrage;", "The carrain in the bush, with throat y-corve,", "A thousand slain, and not of qualm y-storve;", "The tyrant, with the prey by force y-reft;", "The town destroy'd, that there was nothing left.", "Yet saw I brent the shippes hoppesteres,", "The hunter strangled with the wilde bears:", "The sow freting the child right in the cradle;", "The cook scalded, for all his longe ladle.", "Nor was forgot, by th'infortune of Mart", "The carter overridden with his cart;", "Under the wheel full low he lay adown.", "There were also of Mars' division,", "The armourer, the bowyer, and the smith,", "That forgeth sharp swordes on his stith.", "And all above depainted in a tower", "Saw I Conquest, sitting in great honour,", "With thilke sharpe sword over his head", "Hanging by a subtle y-twined thread.", "Painted the slaughter was of Julius,", "Of cruel Nero, and Antonius:", "Although at that time they were yet unborn,", "Yet was their death depainted there beforn,", "By menacing of Mars, right by figure,", "So was it showed in that portraiture,", "As is depainted in the stars above,", "Who shall be slain, or elles dead for love.", "Sufficeth one ensample in stories old,", "I may not reckon them all, though I wo'ld.", "", "The statue of Mars upon a carte stood", "Armed, and looked grim as he were wood,", "And over his head there shone two figures", "Of starres, that be cleped in scriptures,", "That one Puella, that other Rubeus.", "This god of armes was arrayed thus:", "A wolf there stood before him at his feet", "With eyen red, and of a man he eat:", "With subtle pencil painted was this story,", "In redouting of Mars and of his glory.", "", "Now to the temple of Dian the chaste", "As shortly as I can I will me haste,", "To telle you all the descriptioun.", "Depainted be the walles up and down", "Of hunting and of shamefast chastity.", "There saw I how woful Calistope,", "When that Dian aggrieved was with her,", "Was turned from a woman to a bear,", "And after was she made the lodestar:", "Thus was it painted, I can say no far;", "Her son is eke a star as men may see.", "There saw I Dane turn'd into a tree,", "I meane not the goddess Diane,", "But Peneus' daughter, which that hight Dane.", "There saw I Actaeon an hart y-maked,", "For vengeance that he saw Dian all naked:", "I saw how that his houndes have him caught,", "And freten him, for that they knew him not.", "Yet painted was, a little farthermore", "How Atalanta hunted the wild boar;", "And Meleager, and many other mo',", "For which Diana wrought them care and woe.", "There saw I many another wondrous story,", "The which me list not drawen to memory.", "This goddess on an hart full high was set,", "With smalle houndes all about her feet,", "And underneath her feet she had a moon,", "Waxing it was, and shoulde wane soon.", "In gaudy green her statue clothed was,", "With bow in hand, and arrows in a case.", "Her eyen caste she full low adown,", "Where Pluto hath his darke regioun.", "A woman travailing was her beforn,", "But, for her child so longe was unborn,", "Full piteously Lucina gan she call,", "And saide; \"Help, for thou may'st best of all.\"", "Well could he painte lifelike that it wrought;", "With many a florin he the hues had bought.", "Now be these listes made, and Theseus,", "That at his greate cost arrayed thus", "The temples, and the theatre every deal,", "When it was done, him liked wonder well.", "", "But stint I will of Theseus a lite,", "And speak of Palamon and of Arcite.", "The day approacheth of their returning,", "That evereach an hundred knights should bring,", "The battle to darraine as I you told;", "And to Athens, their covenant to hold,", "Hath ev'reach of them brought an hundred knights,", "Well-armed for the war at alle rights.", "And sickerly there trowed many a man,", "That never, sithen that the world began,", "For to speaken of knighthood of their hand,", "As far as God hath maked sea and land,", "Was, of so few, so noble a company.", "For every wight that loved chivalry,", "And would, his thankes, have a passant name,", "Had prayed, that he might be of that game,", "And well was him, that thereto chosen was.", "For if there fell to-morrow such a case,", "Ye knowe well, that every lusty knight,", "That loveth par amour, and hath his might", "Were it in Engleland, or elleswhere,", "They would, their thankes, willen to be there,", "T' fight for a lady; Benedicite,", "It were a lusty sighte for to see.", "And right so fared they with Palamon;", "With him there wente knightes many one.", "Some will be armed in an habergeon,", "And in a breast-plate, and in a gipon;", "And some will have a pair of plates large;", "And some will have a Prusse shield, or targe;", "Some will be armed on their legges weel;", "Some have an axe, and some a mace of steel.", "There is no newe guise, but it was old.", "Armed they weren, as I have you told,", "Evereach after his opinion.", "There may'st thou see coming with Palamon", "Licurgus himself, the great king of Thrace:", "Black was his beard, and manly was his face.", "The circles of his eyen in his head", "They glowed betwixte yellow and red,", "And like a griffin looked he about,", "With kemped haires on his browes stout;", "His limbs were great, his brawns were hard and strong,", "His shoulders broad, his armes round and long.", "And as the guise was in his country,", "Full high upon a car of gold stood he,", "With foure white bulles in the trace.", "Instead of coat-armour on his harness,", "With yellow nails, and bright as any gold,", "He had a beare's skin, coal-black for old.", "His long hair was y-kempt behind his back,", "As any raven's feather it shone for black.", "A wreath of gold arm-great, of huge weight,", "Upon his head sate, full of stones bright,", "Of fine rubies and clear diamants.", "About his car there wente white alauns,", "Twenty and more, as great as any steer,", "To hunt the lion or the wilde bear,", "And follow'd him, with muzzle fast y-bound,", "Collars of gold, and torettes filed round.", "An hundred lordes had he in his rout", "Armed full well, with heartes stern and stout.", "", "With Arcita, in stories as men find,", "The great Emetrius the king of Ind,", "Upon a steede bay trapped in steel,", "Cover'd with cloth of gold diapred well,", "Came riding like the god of armes, Mars.", "His coat-armour was of a cloth of Tars,", "Couched with pearls white and round and great", "His saddle was of burnish'd gold new beat;", "A mantelet on his shoulders hanging,", "Bretful of rubies red, as fire sparkling.", "His crispe hair like ringes was y-run,", "And that was yellow, glittering as the sun.", "His nose was high, his eyen bright citrine,", "His lips were round, his colour was sanguine,", "A fewe fracknes in his face y-sprent,", "Betwixte yellow and black somedeal y-ment", "And as a lion he his looking cast", "Of five and twenty year his age I cast", "His beard was well begunnen for to spring;", "His voice was as a trumpet thundering.", "Upon his head he wore of laurel green", "A garland fresh and lusty to be seen;", "Upon his hand he bare, for his delight,", "An eagle tame, as any lily white.", "An hundred lordes had he with him there,", "All armed, save their heads, in all their gear,", "Full richely in alle manner things.", "For trust ye well, that earles, dukes, and kings", "Were gather'd in this noble company,", "For love, and for increase of chivalry.", "About this king there ran on every part", "Full many a tame lion and leopart.", "And in this wise these lordes all and some", "Be on the Sunday to the city come", "Aboute prime, and in the town alight.", "", "This Theseus, this Duke, this worthy knight", "When he had brought them into his city,", "And inned them, ev'reach at his degree,", "He feasteth them, and doth so great labour", "To easen them, and do them all honour,", "That yet men weene that no mannes wit", "Of none estate could amenden it.", "The minstrelsy, the service at the feast,", "The greate giftes to the most and least,", "The rich array of Theseus' palace,", "Nor who sate first or last upon the dais.", "What ladies fairest be, or best dancing", "Or which of them can carol best or sing,", "Or who most feelingly speaketh of love;", "What hawkes sitten on the perch above,", "What houndes liggen on the floor adown,", "Of all this now make I no mentioun", "But of th'effect; that thinketh me the best", "Now comes the point, and hearken if you lest.", "", "The Sunday night, ere day began to spring,", "When Palamon the larke hearde sing,", "Although it were not day by houres two,", "Yet sang the lark, and Palamon right tho", "With holy heart, and with an high courage,", "Arose, to wenden on his pilgrimage", "Unto the blissful Cithera benign,", "I meane Venus, honourable and digne.", "And in her hour he walketh forth a pace", "Unto the listes, where her temple was,", "And down he kneeleth, and with humble cheer", "And hearte sore, he said as ye shall hear.", "", "\"Fairest of fair, O lady mine Venus,", "Daughter to Jove, and spouse of Vulcanus,", "Thou gladder of the mount of Citheron!", "For thilke love thou haddest to Adon", "Have pity on my bitter teares smart,", "And take mine humble prayer to thine heart.", "Alas! I have no language to tell", "Th'effecte, nor the torment of mine hell;", "Mine hearte may mine harmes not betray;", "I am so confused, that I cannot say.", "But mercy, lady bright, that knowest well", "My thought, and seest what harm that I feel.", "Consider all this, and rue upon my sore,", "As wisly as I shall for evermore", "Enforce my might, thy true servant to be,", "And holde war alway with chastity:", "That make I mine avow, so ye me help.", "I keepe not of armes for to yelp,", "Nor ask I not to-morrow to have victory,", "Nor renown in this case, nor vaine glory", "Of prize of armes, blowing up and down,", "But I would have fully possessioun", "Of Emily, and die in her service;", "Find thou the manner how, and in what wise.", "I recke not but it may better be", "To have vict'ry of them, or they of me,", "So that I have my lady in mine arms.", "For though so be that Mars is god of arms,", "Your virtue is so great in heaven above,", "That, if you list, I shall well have my love.", "Thy temple will I worship evermo',", "And on thine altar, where I ride or go,", "I will do sacrifice, and fires bete.", "And if ye will not so, my lady sweet,", "Then pray I you, to-morrow with a spear", "That Arcita me through the hearte bear", "Then reck I not, when I have lost my life,", "Though that Arcita win her to his wife.", "This is th' effect and end of my prayere, --", "Give me my love, thou blissful lady dear.\"", "When th' orison was done of Palamon,", "His sacrifice he did, and that anon,", "Full piteously, with alle circumstances,", "All tell I not as now his observances.", "But at the last the statue of Venus shook,", "And made a signe, whereby that he took", "That his prayer accepted was that day.", "For though the signe shewed a delay,", "Yet wist he well that granted was his boon;", "And with glad heart he went him home full soon.", "", "The third hour unequal that Palamon", "Began to Venus' temple for to gon,", "Up rose the sun, and up rose Emily,", "And to the temple of Dian gan hie.", "Her maidens, that she thither with her lad,", "Th' incense, the clothes, and the remnant all", "That to the sacrifice belonge shall,", "The hornes full of mead, as was the guise;", "There lacked nought to do her sacrifice.", "Smoking the temple full of clothes fair,", "This Emily with hearte debonnair", "Her body wash'd with water of a well.", "But how she did her rite I dare not tell;", "But it be any thing in general;", "And yet it were a game to hearen all", "To him that meaneth well it were no charge:", "But it is good a man to be at large.", "Her bright hair combed was, untressed all.", "A coronet of green oak cerriall", "Upon her head was set full fair and meet.", "Two fires on the altar gan she bete,", "And did her thinges, as men may behold", "In Stace of Thebes , and these bookes old.", "When kindled was the fire, with piteous cheer", "Unto Dian she spake as ye may hear.", "", "\"O chaste goddess of the woodes green,", "To whom both heav'n and earth and sea is seen,", "Queen of the realm of Pluto dark and low,", "Goddess of maidens, that mine heart hast know", "Full many a year, and wost what I desire,", "To keep me from the vengeance of thine ire,", "That Actaeon aboughte cruelly:", "Chaste goddess, well wottest thou that I", "Desire to be a maiden all my life,", "Nor never will I be no love nor wife.", "I am, thou wost, yet of thy company,", "A maid, and love hunting and venery,", "And for to walken in the woodes wild,", "And not to be a wife, and be with child.", "Nought will I know the company of man.", "Now help me, lady, since ye may and can,", "For those three formes that thou hast in thee.", "And Palamon, that hath such love to me,", "And eke Arcite, that loveth me so sore,", "This grace I pray thee withoute more,", "As sende love and peace betwixt them two:", "And from me turn away their heartes so,", "That all their hote love, and their desire,", "And all their busy torment, and their fire,", "Be queint, or turn'd into another place.", "And if so be thou wilt do me no grace,", "Or if my destiny be shapen so", "That I shall needes have one of them two,", "So send me him that most desireth me.", "Behold, goddess of cleane chastity,", "The bitter tears that on my cheekes fall.", "Since thou art maid, and keeper of us all,", "My maidenhead thou keep and well conserve,", "And, while I live, a maid I will thee serve.", "", "The fires burn upon the altar clear,", "While Emily was thus in her prayere:", "But suddenly she saw a sighte quaint.", "For right anon one of the fire's queint", "And quick'd again, and after that anon", "That other fire was queint, and all agone:", "And as it queint, it made a whisteling,", "As doth a brande wet in its burning.", "And at the brandes end outran anon", "As it were bloody droppes many one:", "For which so sore aghast was Emily,", "That she was well-nigh mad, and gan to cry,", "For she ne wiste what it signified;", "But onely for feare thus she cried,", "And wept, that it was pity for to hear.", "And therewithal Diana gan appear", "With bow in hand, right as an hunteress,", "And saide; \"Daughter, stint thine heaviness.", "Among the goddes high it is affirm'd,", "And by eternal word writ and confirm'd,", "Thou shalt be wedded unto one of tho", "That have for thee so muche care and woe:", "But unto which of them I may not tell.", "Farewell, for here I may no longer dwell.", "The fires which that on mine altar brenn,", "Shall thee declaren, ere that thou go henne,", "Thine aventure of love, as in this case.\"", "And with that word, the arrows in the case", "Of the goddess did clatter fast and ring,", "And forth she went, and made a vanishing,", "For which this Emily astonied was,", "And saide; \"What amounteth this, alas!", "I put me under thy protection,", "Diane, and in thy disposition.\"", "And home she went anon the nexte way.", "This is th' effect, there is no more to say.", "", "The nexte hour of Mars following this", "Arcite to the temple walked is", "Of fierce Mars, to do his sacrifice", "With all the rites of his pagan guise.", "With piteous heart and high devotion", "Right thus to Mars he said his orison", "\"O stronge god, that in the regnes old", "Of Thrace honoured art, and lord y-hold", "And hast in every regne, and every land", "Of armes all the bridle in thine hand,", "And them fortunest as thee list devise,", "Accept of me my piteous sacrifice.", "If so be that my youthe may deserve,", "And that my might be worthy for to serve", "Thy godhead, that I may be one of thine,", "Then pray I thee to rue upon my pine,", "For thilke pain, and thilke hote fire,", "In which thou whilom burned'st for desire", "Whenne that thou usedest the beauty", "Of faire young Venus, fresh and free,", "And haddest her in armes at thy will:", "And though thee ones on a time misfill,", "When Vulcanus had caught thee in his las,", "And found thee ligging by his wife, alas!", "For thilke sorrow that was in thine heart,", "Have ruth as well upon my paine's smart.", "I am young and unconning, as thou know'st,", "And, as I trow, with love offended most", "That e'er was any living creature:", "For she, that doth me all this woe endure,", "Ne recketh ne'er whether I sink or fleet", "And well I wot, ere she me mercy hete,", "I must with strengthe win her in the place:", "And well I wot, withoute help or grace", "Of thee, ne may my strengthe not avail:", "Then help me, lord, to-morr'w in my bataille,", "For thilke fire that whilom burned thee,", "As well as this fire that now burneth me;", "And do that I to-morr'w may have victory.", "Mine be the travail, all thine be the glory.", "Thy sovereign temple will I most honour", "Of any place, and alway most labour", "In thy pleasance and in thy craftes strong.", "And in thy temple I will my banner hong,", "And all the armes of my company,", "And evermore, until that day I die,", "Eternal fire I will before thee find", "And eke to this my vow I will me bind:", "My beard, my hair that hangeth long adown,", "That never yet hath felt offension", "Of razor nor of shears, I will thee give,", "And be thy true servant while I live.", "Now, lord, have ruth upon my sorrows sore,", "Give me the victory, I ask no more.\"", "", "The prayer stint of Arcita the strong,", "The ringes on the temple door that hong,", "And eke the doores, clattered full fast,", "Of which Arcita somewhat was aghast.", "The fires burn'd upon the altar bright,", "That it gan all the temple for to light;", "A sweete smell anon the ground up gaf,", "And Arcita anon his hand up haf,", "And more incense into the fire he cast,", "With other rites more and at the last", "The statue of Mars began his hauberk ring;", "And with that sound he heard a murmuring", "Full low and dim, that saide thus, \"Victory.\"", "For which he gave to Mars honour and glory.", "And thus with joy, and hope well to fare,", "Arcite anon unto his inn doth fare.", "As fain as fowl is of the brighte sun.", "", "And right anon such strife there is begun", "For thilke granting, in the heav'n above,", "Betwixte Venus the goddess of love,", "And Mars the sterne god armipotent,", "That Jupiter was busy it to stent:", "Till that the pale Saturnus the cold,", "That knew so many of adventures old,", "Found in his old experience such an art,", "That he full soon hath pleased every part.", "As sooth is said, eld hath great advantage,", "In eld is bothe wisdom and usage:", "Men may the old out-run, but not out-rede.", "Saturn anon, to stint the strife and drede,", "Albeit that it is against his kind,", "Of all this strife gan a remedy find.", "\"My deare daughter Venus,\" quoth Saturn,", "\"My course, that hath so wide for to turn,", "Hath more power than wot any man.", "Mine is the drowning in the sea so wan;", "Mine is the prison in the darke cote,", "Mine the strangling and hanging by the throat,", "The murmur, and the churlish rebelling,", "The groyning, and the privy poisoning.", "I do vengeance and plein correction,", "I dwell in the sign of the lion.", "Mine is the ruin of the highe halls,", "The falling of the towers and the walls", "Upon the miner or the carpenter:", "I slew Samson in shaking the pillar:", "Mine also be the maladies cold,", "The darke treasons, and the castes old:", "My looking is the father of pestilence.", "Now weep no more, I shall do diligence", "That Palamon, that is thine owen knight,", "Shall have his lady, as thou hast him hight.", "Though Mars shall help his knight, yet natheless", "Betwixte you there must sometime be peace:", "All be ye not of one complexion,", "That each day causeth such division,", "I am thine ayel, ready at thy will;", "Weep now no more, I shall thy lust fulfil.\"", "Now will I stenten of the gods above,", "Of Mars, and of Venus, goddess of love,", "And telle you as plainly as I can", "The great effect, for which that I began.", "", "Great was the feast in Athens thilke day;", "And eke the lusty season of that May", "Made every wight to be in such pleasance,", "That all that Monday jousten they and dance,", "And spenden it in Venus' high service.", "But by the cause that they shoulde rise", "Early a-morrow for to see that fight,", "Unto their reste wente they at night.", "And on the morrow, when the day gan spring,", "Of horse and harness noise and clattering", "There was in the hostelries all about:", "And to the palace rode there many a rout", "Of lordes, upon steedes and palfreys.", "There mayst thou see devising of harness", "So uncouth and so rich, and wrought so weel", "Of goldsmithry, of brouding, and of steel;", "The shieldes bright, the testers, and trappures", "Gold-hewen helmets, hauberks, coat-armures;", "Lordes in parements on their coursers,", "Knightes of retinue, and eke squiers,", "Nailing the spears, and helmes buckeling,", "Gniding of shieldes, with lainers lacing;", "There as need is, they were nothing idle:", "The foamy steeds upon the golden bridle", "Gnawing, and fast the armourers also", "With file and hammer pricking to and fro;", "Yeomen on foot, and knaves many one", "With shorte staves, thick as they may gon;", "Pipes, trumpets, nakeres, and clariouns,", "That in the battle blowe bloody souns;", "The palace full of people up and down,", "There three, there ten, holding their questioun,", "Divining of these Theban knightes two.", "Some saiden thus, some said it shall he so;", "Some helden with him with the blacke beard,", "Some with the bald, some with the thick-hair'd;", "Some said he looked grim, and woulde fight:", "He had a sparth of twenty pound of weight.", "Thus was the halle full of divining", "Long after that the sunne gan up spring.", "The great Theseus that of his sleep is waked", "With minstrelsy, and noise that was maked,", "Held yet the chamber of his palace rich,", "Till that the Theban knightes both y-lich", "Honoured were, and to the palace fet.", "Duke Theseus is at a window set,", "Array'd right as he were a god in throne:", "The people presseth thitherward full soon", "Him for to see, and do him reverence,", "And eke to hearken his hest and his sentence.", "An herald on a scaffold made an O,", "Till the noise of the people was y-do:", "And when he saw the people of noise all still,", "Thus shewed he the mighty Duke's will.", "\"The lord hath of his high discretion", "Considered that it were destruction", "To gentle blood, to fighten in the guise", "Of mortal battle now in this emprise:", "Wherefore to shape that they shall not die,", "He will his firste purpose modify.", "No man therefore, on pain of loss of life,", "No manner shot, nor poleaxe, nor short knife", "Into the lists shall send, or thither bring.", "Nor short sword for to stick with point biting", "No man shall draw, nor bear it by his side.", "And no man shall unto his fellow ride", "But one course, with a sharp y-grounden spear:", "Foin if him list on foot, himself to wear.", "And he that is at mischief shall be take,", "And not slain, but be brought unto the stake,", "That shall be ordained on either side;", "Thither he shall by force, and there abide.", "And if so fall the chiefetain be take", "On either side, or elles slay his make,", "No longer then the tourneying shall last.", "God speede you; go forth and lay on fast.", "With long sword and with mace fight your fill.", "Go now your way; this is the lordes will.", "The voice of the people touched the heaven,", "So loude cried they with merry steven:", "God save such a lord that is so good,", "He willeth no destruction of blood.", "", "Up go the trumpets and the melody,", "And to the listes rode the company", "By ordinance, throughout the city large,", "Hanged with cloth of gold, and not with sarge.", "Full like a lord this noble Duke gan ride,", "And these two Thebans upon either side:", "", "And after rode the queen and Emily,", "And after them another company", "Of one and other, after their degree.", "And thus they passed thorough that city", "And to the listes came they by time:", "It was not of the day yet fully prime.", "When set was Theseus full rich and high,", "Hippolyta the queen and Emily,", "And other ladies in their degrees about,", "Unto the seates presseth all the rout.", "And westward, through the gates under Mart,", "Arcite, and eke the hundred of his part,", "With banner red, is enter'd right anon;", "And in the selve moment Palamon", "Is, under Venus, eastward in the place,", "With banner white, and hardy cheer and face", "In all the world, to seeken up and down", "So even without variatioun", "There were such companies never tway.", "For there was none so wise that coulde say", "That any had of other avantage", "Of worthiness, nor of estate, nor age,", "So even were they chosen for to guess.", "And in two ranges faire they them dress.", "When that their names read were every one,", "That in their number guile were there none,", "Then were the gates shut, and cried was loud;", "\"Do now your devoir, younge knights proud", "The heralds left their pricking up and down", "Now ring the trumpet loud and clarioun.", "There is no more to say, but east and west", "In go the speares sadly in the rest;", "In go the sharpe spurs into the side.", "There see me who can joust, and who can ride.", "There shiver shaftes upon shieldes thick;", "He feeleth through the hearte-spoon the prick.", "Up spring the speares twenty foot on height;", "Out go the swordes as the silver bright.", "The helmes they to-hewen, and to-shred;", "Out burst the blood, with sterne streames red.", "With mighty maces the bones they to-brest.", "He through the thickest of the throng gan threst.", "There stumble steedes strong, and down go all.", "He rolleth under foot as doth a ball.", "He foineth on his foe with a trunchoun,", "And he him hurtleth with his horse adown.", "He through the body hurt is, and sith take,", "Maugre his head, and brought unto the stake,", "As forword was, right there he must abide.", "Another led is on that other side.", "And sometime doth them Theseus to rest,", "Them to refresh, and drinken if them lest.", "Full oft a day have thilke Thebans two", "Together met and wrought each other woe:", "Unhorsed hath each other of them tway", "There is no tiger in the vale of Galaphay,", "When that her whelp is stole, when it is lite", "So cruel on the hunter, as Arcite", "For jealous heart upon this Palamon:", "Nor in Belmarie there is no fell lion,", "That hunted is, or for his hunger wood", "Or for his prey desireth so the blood,", "As Palamon to slay his foe Arcite.", "The jealous strokes upon their helmets bite;", "Out runneth blood on both their sides red,", "Sometime an end there is of every deed", "For ere the sun unto the reste went,", "The stronge king Emetrius gan hent", "This Palamon, as he fought with Arcite,", "And made his sword deep in his flesh to bite,", "And by the force of twenty is he take,", "Unyielding, and is drawn unto the stake.", "And in the rescue of this Palamon", "The stronge king Licurgus is borne down:", "And king Emetrius, for all his strength", "Is borne out of his saddle a sword's length,", "So hit him Palamon ere he were take:", "But all for nought; he was brought to the stake:", "His hardy hearte might him helpe naught,", "He must abide when that he was caught,", "By force, and eke by composition.", "Who sorroweth now but woful Palamon", "That must no more go again to fight?", "And when that Theseus had seen that sight", "Unto the folk that foughte thus each one,", "He cried, Ho! no more, for it is done!", "I will be true judge, and not party.", "Arcite of Thebes shall have Emily,", "That by his fortune hath her fairly won.\"", "Anon there is a noise of people gone,", "For joy of this, so loud and high withal,", "It seemed that the listes shoulde fall.", "", "What can now faire Venus do above?", "What saith she now? what doth this queen of love?", "But weepeth so, for wanting of her will,", "Till that her teares in the listes fill", "She said: \"I am ashamed doubteless.\"", "Saturnus saide: \"Daughter, hold thy peace.", "Mars hath his will, his knight hath all his boon,", "And by mine head thou shalt be eased soon.\"", " The trumpeters with the loud minstrelsy,", "The heralds, that full loude yell and cry,", "Be in their joy for weal of Dan Arcite.", "But hearken me, and stinte noise a lite,", "What a miracle there befell anon", "This fierce Arcite hath off his helm y-done,", "And on a courser for to shew his face", "He pricketh endelong the large place,", "Looking upward upon this Emily;", "And she again him cast a friendly eye", "(For women, as to speaken in commune,", "They follow all the favour of fortune),", "And was all his in cheer, as his in heart.", "Out of the ground a fire infernal start,", "From Pluto sent, at request of Saturn", "For which his horse for fear began to turn,", "And leap aside, and founder as he leap", "And ere that Arcite may take any keep,", "He pight him on the pummel of his head.", "That in the place he lay as he were dead.", "His breast to-bursten with his saddle-bow.", "As black he lay as any coal or crow,", "So was the blood y-run into his face.", "Anon he was y-borne out of the place", "With hearte sore, to Theseus' palace.", "Then was he carven out of his harness.", "And in a bed y-brought full fair and blive", "For he was yet in mem'ry and alive,", "And always crying after Emily.", "", "Duke Theseus, with all his company,", "Is come home to Athens his city,", "With alle bliss and great solemnity.", "Albeit that this aventure was fall,", "He woulde not discomforte them all", "Then said eke, that Arcite should not die,", "He should be healed of his malady.", "And of another thing they were as fain.", "That of them alle was there no one slain,", "All were they sorely hurt, and namely one,", "That with a spear was thirled his breast-bone.", "To other woundes, and to broken arms,", "Some hadden salves, and some hadden charms:", "And pharmacies of herbs, and eke save", "They dranken, for they would their lives have.", "For which this noble Duke, as he well can,", "Comforteth and honoureth every man,", "And made revel all the longe night,", "Unto the strange lordes, as was right.", "Nor there was holden no discomforting,", "But as at jousts or at a tourneying;", "For soothly there was no discomfiture,", "For falling is not but an aventure.", "Nor to be led by force unto a stake", "Unyielding, and with twenty knights y-take", "One person all alone, withouten mo',", "And harried forth by armes, foot, and toe,", "And eke his steede driven forth with staves,", "With footmen, bothe yeomen and eke knaves,", "It was aretted him no villainy:", "There may no man clepen it cowardy.", "For which anon Duke Theseus let cry, --", "To stenten alle rancour and envy, --", "The gree as well on one side as the other,", "And either side alike as other's brother:", "And gave them giftes after their degree,", "And held a feaste fully dayes three:", "And conveyed the kinges worthily", "Out of his town a journee largely", "And home went every man the righte way,", "There was no more but \"Farewell, Have good day.\"", "Of this bataille I will no more indite", "But speak of Palamon and of Arcite.", "", "Swelleth the breast of Arcite and the sore", "Increaseth at his hearte more and more.", "The clotted blood, for any leache-craft", "Corrupteth and is in his bouk y-laft", "That neither veine blood nor ventousing,", "Nor drink of herbes may be his helping.", "The virtue expulsive or animal,", "From thilke virtue called natural,", "Nor may the venom voide, nor expel", "The pipes of his lungs began to swell", "And every lacert in his breast adown", "Is shent with venom and corruption.", "Him gaineth neither, for to get his life,", "Vomit upward, nor downward laxative;", "All is to-bursten thilke region;", "Nature hath now no domination.", "And certainly where nature will not wirch,", "Farewell physic: go bear the man to chirch.", "This all and some is, Arcite must die.", "For which he sendeth after Emily,", "And Palamon, that was his cousin dear,", "Then said he thus, as ye shall after hear.", "", "\"Nought may the woful spirit in mine heart", "Declare one point of all my sorrows' smart", "To you, my lady, that I love the most:", "But I bequeath the service of my ghost", "To you aboven every creature,", "Since that my life ne may no longer dure.", "Alas the woe! alas, the paines strong", "That I for you have suffered and so long!", "Alas the death, alas, mine Emily!", "Alas departing of our company!", "Alas, mine hearte's queen! alas, my wife!", "Mine hearte's lady, ender of my life!", "What is this world? what aske men to have?", "Now with his love, now in his colde grave", "Al one, withouten any company.", "Farewell, my sweet, farewell, mine Emily,", "And softly take me in your armes tway,", "For love of God, and hearken what I say.", "I have here with my cousin Palamon", "Had strife and rancour many a day agone,", "For love of you, and for my jealousy.", "And Jupiter so wis my soule gie,", "To speaken of a servant properly,", "With alle circumstances truely,", "That is to say, truth, honour, and knighthead,", "Wisdom, humbless, estate, and high kindred,", "Freedom, and all that longeth to that art,", "So Jupiter have of my soul part,", "As in this world right now I know not one,", "So worthy to be lov'd as Palamon,", "That serveth you, and will do all his life.", "And if that you shall ever be a wife,", "Forget not Palamon, the gentle man.\"", "", "And with that word his speech to fail began.", "For from his feet up to his breast was come", "The cold of death, that had him overnome.", "And yet moreover in his armes two", "The vital strength is lost, and all ago.", "Only the intellect, withoute more,", "That dwelled in his hearte sick and sore,", "Gan faile, when the hearte felte death;", "Dusked his eyen two, and fail'd his breath.", "But on his lady yet he cast his eye;", "His laste word was; \"Mercy, Emily!\"", "His spirit changed house, and wente there,", "As I came never I cannot telle where.", "Therefore I stent, I am no divinister;", "Of soules find I nought in this register.", "Ne me list not th' opinions to tell", "Of them, though that they writen where they dwell;", "Arcite is cold, there Mars his soule gie.", "Now will I speake forth of Emily.", "", "Shriek'd Emily, and howled Palamon,", "And Theseus his sister took anon", "Swooning, and bare her from the corpse away.", "What helpeth it to tarry forth the day,", "To telle how she wept both eve and morrow?", "For in such cases women have such sorrow,", "When that their husbands be from them y-go,", "That for the more part they sorrow so,", "Or elles fall into such malady,", "That at the laste certainly they die.", "Infinite be the sorrows and the tears", "Of olde folk, and folk of tender years,", "In all the town, for death of this Theban:", "For him there weepeth bothe child and man.", "So great a weeping was there none certain,", "When Hector was y-brought, all fresh y-slain,", "To Troy: alas! the pity that was there,", "Scratching of cheeks, and rending eke of hair.", "\"Why wouldest thou be dead?\" these women cry,", "\"And haddest gold enough, and Emily.\"", "No manner man might gladden Theseus,", "Saving his olde father Egeus,", "That knew this worlde's transmutatioun,", "As he had seen it changen up and down,", "Joy after woe, and woe after gladness;", "And shewed him example and likeness.", "\"Right as there died never man,\" quoth he,", "\"That he ne liv'd in earth in some degree,", "Right so there lived never man,\" he said,", "\"In all this world, that sometime be not died.", "This world is but a throughfare full of woe,", "And we be pilgrims, passing to and fro:", "Death is an end of every worldly sore.\"", "And over all this said he yet much more", "To this effect, full wisely to exhort", "The people, that they should them recomfort.", "Duke Theseus, with all his busy cure,", "Casteth about, where that the sepulture", "Of good Arcite may best y-maked be,", "And eke most honourable in his degree.", "And at the last he took conclusion,", "That there as first Arcite and Palamon", "Hadde for love the battle them between,", "That in that selve grove, sweet and green,", "There as he had his amorous desires,", "His complaint, and for love his hote fires,", "He woulde make a fire, in which th' office", "Of funeral he might all accomplice;", "And let anon command to hack and hew", "The oakes old, and lay them on a rew", "In culpons, well arrayed for to brenne.", "His officers with swifte feet they renne", "And ride anon at his commandement.", "And after this, Duke Theseus hath sent", "After a bier, and it all oversprad", "With cloth of gold, the richest that he had;", "And of the same suit he clad Arcite.", "Upon his handes were his gloves white,", "Eke on his head a crown of laurel green,", "And in his hand a sword full bright and keen.", "He laid him bare the visage on the bier,", "Therewith he wept, that pity was to hear.", "And, for the people shoulde see him all,", "When it was day he brought them to the hall,", "That roareth of the crying and the soun'.", "Then came this woful Theban, Palamon,", "With sluttery beard, and ruggy ashy hairs,", "In clothes black, y-dropped all with tears,", "And (passing over weeping Emily)", "The ruefullest of all the company.", "And inasmuch as the service should be", "The more noble and rich in its degree,", "Duke Theseus let forth three steedes bring,", "That trapped were in steel all glittering.", "And covered with the arms of Dan Arcite.", "Upon these steedes, that were great and white,", "There satte folk, of whom one bare his shield,", "Another his spear in his handes held;", "The thirde bare with him his bow Turkeis,", "Of brent gold was the case and the harness:", "And ride forth a pace with sorrowful cheer", "Toward the grove, as ye shall after hear.", "", "The noblest of the Greekes that there were", "Upon their shoulders carried the bier,", "With slacke pace, and eyen red and wet,", "Throughout the city, by the master street,", "That spread was all with black, and wondrous high", "Right of the same is all the street y-wrie.", "Upon the right hand went old Egeus,", "And on the other side Duke Theseus,", "With vessels in their hand of gold full fine,", "All full of honey, milk, and blood, and wine;", "Eke Palamon, with a great company;", "And after that came woful Emily,", "With fire in hand, as was that time the guise,", "To do th' office of funeral service.", "", "High labour, and full great appareling", "Was at the service, and the pyre-making,", "That with its greene top the heaven raught,", "And twenty fathom broad its armes straught:", "This is to say, the boughes were so broad.", "Of straw first there was laid many a load.", "But how the pyre was maked up on height,", "And eke the names how the trees hight,", "As oak, fir, birch, asp, alder, holm, poplere,", "Willow, elm, plane, ash, box, chestnut, lind, laurere,", "Maple, thorn, beech, hazel, yew, whipul tree,", "How they were fell'd, shall not be told for me;", "Nor how the goddes rannen up and down", "Disinherited of their habitatioun,", "In which they wonned had in rest and peace,", "Nymphes, Faunes, and Hamadryades;", "Nor how the beastes and the birdes all", "Fledden for feare, when the wood gan fall;", "Nor how the ground aghast was of the light,", "That was not wont to see the sunne bright;", "Nor how the fire was couched first with stre,", "And then with dry stickes cloven in three,", "And then with greene wood and spicery,", "And then with cloth of gold and with pierrie,", "And garlands hanging with full many a flower,", "The myrrh, the incense with so sweet odour;", "Nor how Arcita lay among all this,", "Nor what richess about his body is;", "Nor how that Emily, as was the guise,", "Put in the fire of funeral service;", "Nor how she swooned when she made the fire,", "Nor what she spake, nor what was her desire;", "Nor what jewels men in the fire then cast", "When that the fire was great and burned fast;", "", "Nor how some cast their shield, and some their spear,", "And of their vestiments, which that they wear,", "And cuppes full of wine, and milk, and blood,", "Into the fire, that burnt as it were wood;", "Nor how the Greekes with a huge rout", "Three times riden all the fire about", "Upon the left hand, with a loud shouting,", "And thries with their speares clattering;", "And thries how the ladies gan to cry;", "Nor how that led was homeward Emily;", "Nor how Arcite is burnt to ashes cold;", "Nor how the lyke-wake was y-hold", "All thilke night, nor how the Greekes play", "The wake-plays, ne keep I not to say:", "Who wrestled best naked, with oil anoint,", "Nor who that bare him best in no disjoint.", "I will not tell eke how they all are gone", "Home to Athenes when the play is done;", "But shortly to the point now will I wend,", "And maken of my longe tale an end.", "", "By process and by length of certain years", "All stinted is the mourning and the tears", "Of Greekes, by one general assent.", "Then seemed me there was a parlement", "At Athens, upon certain points and cas:", "Amonge the which points y-spoken was", "To have with certain countries alliance,", "And have of Thebans full obeisance.", "For which this noble Theseus anon", "Let send after the gentle Palamon,", "Unwist of him what was the cause and why:", "But in his blacke clothes sorrowfully", "He came at his commandment on hie;", "Then sente Theseus for Emily.", "When they were set, and hush'd was all the place", "And Theseus abided had a space", "Ere any word came from his wise breast", "His eyen set he there as was his lest,", "And with a sad visage he sighed still,", "And after that right thus he said his will.", "\"The firste mover of the cause above", "When he first made the faire chain of love,", "Great was th' effect, and high was his intent;", "Well wist he why, and what thereof he meant:", "For with that faire chain of love he bond", "The fire, the air, the water, and the lond", "In certain bondes, that they may not flee:", "That same prince and mover eke,\" quoth he,", "\"Hath stablish'd, in this wretched world adown,", "Certain of dayes and duration", "To all that are engender'd in this place,", "Over the whiche day they may not pace,", "All may they yet their dayes well abridge.", "There needeth no authority to allege", "For it is proved by experience;", "But that me list declare my sentence.", "Then may men by this order well discern,", "That thilke mover stable is and etern.", "Well may men know, but that it be a fool,", "That every part deriveth from its whole.", "For nature hath not ta'en its beginning", "Of no partie nor cantle of a thing,", "But of a thing that perfect is and stable,", "Descending so, till it be corruptable.", "And therefore of His wise purveyance", "He hath so well beset his ordinance,", "That species of things and progressions", "Shallen endure by successions,", "And not etern, withouten any lie:", "This mayst thou understand and see at eye.", "Lo th' oak, that hath so long a nourishing", "From the time that it 'ginneth first to spring,", "And hath so long a life, as ye may see,", "Yet at the last y-wasted is the tree.", "Consider eke, how that the harde stone", "Under our feet, on which we tread and gon,", "Yet wasteth, as it lieth by the way.", "The broade river some time waxeth drey.", "The greate townes see we wane and wend.", "Then may ye see that all things have an end.", "Of man and woman see we well also, --", "That needes in one of the termes two, --", "That is to say, in youth or else in age,-", "He must be dead, the king as shall a page;", "Some in his bed, some in the deepe sea,", "Some in the large field, as ye may see:", "There helpeth nought, all go that ilke way:", "Then may I say that alle thing must die.", "What maketh this but Jupiter the king?", "The which is prince, and cause of alle thing,", "Converting all unto his proper will,", "From which it is derived, sooth to tell", "And hereagainst no creature alive,", "Of no degree, availeth for to strive.", "Then is it wisdom, as it thinketh me,", "To make a virtue of necessity,", "And take it well, that we may not eschew,", "And namely what to us all is due.", "And whoso grudgeth ought, he doth folly,", "And rebel is to him that all may gie.", "And certainly a man hath most honour", "To dien in his excellence and flower,", "When he is sicker of his goode name.", "Then hath he done his friend, nor him, no shame", "And gladder ought his friend be of his death,", "When with honour is yielded up his breath,", "Than when his name appalled is for age;", "For all forgotten is his vassalage.", "Then is it best, as for a worthy fame,", "To dien when a man is best of name.", "The contrary of all this is wilfulness.", "Why grudge we, why have we heaviness,", "That good Arcite, of chivalry the flower,", "Departed is, with duty and honour,", "Out of this foule prison of this life?", "Why grudge here his cousin and his wife", "Of his welfare, that loved him so well?", "Can he them thank? nay, God wot, neverdeal, --", "That both his soul and eke themselves offend,", "And yet they may their lustes not amend.", "What may I conclude of this longe serie,", "But after sorrow I rede us to be merry,", "And thanke Jupiter for all his grace?", "And ere that we departe from this place,", "I rede that we make of sorrows two", "One perfect joye lasting evermo':", "And look now where most sorrow is herein,", "There will I first amenden and begin.", "\"Sister,\" quoth he, \"this is my full assent,", "With all th' advice here of my parlement,", "That gentle Palamon, your owen knight,", "That serveth you with will, and heart, and might,", "And ever hath, since first time ye him knew,", "That ye shall of your grace upon him rue,", "And take him for your husband and your lord:", "Lend me your hand, for this is our accord.", "Let see now of your womanly pity.", "He is a kinge's brother's son, pardie.", "And though he were a poore bachelere,", "Since he hath served you so many a year,", "And had for you so great adversity,", "It muste be considered, 'lieveth me.", "For gentle mercy oweth to passen right.\"", "Then said he thus to Palamon the knight;", "\"I trow there needeth little sermoning", "To make you assente to this thing.", "Come near, and take your lady by the hand.\"", "Betwixte them was made anon the band,", "That hight matrimony or marriage,", "By all the counsel of the baronage.", "And thus with alle bliss and melody", "Hath Palamon y-wedded Emily.", "And God, that all this wide world hath wrought,", "Send him his love, that hath it dearly bought.", "For now is Palamon in all his weal,", "Living in bliss, in riches, and in heal.", "And Emily him loves so tenderly,", "And he her serveth all so gentilly,", "That never was there worde them between", "Of jealousy, nor of none other teen.", "Thus endeth Palamon and Emily", "And God save all this faire company." ], "linecount": "2248" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Miller's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "THE PROLOGUE.", "", "When that the Knight had thus his tale told", "In all the rout was neither young nor old,", "That he not said it was a noble story,", "And worthy to be drawen to memory;", "And namely the gentles every one.", "Our Host then laugh'd and swore, \"So may I gon,", "This goes aright; unbuckled is the mail;", "Let see now who shall tell another tale:", "For truely this game is well begun.", "Now telleth ye, Sir Monk, if that ye conne,", "Somewhat, to quiten with the Knighte's tale.\"", "The Miller that fordrunken was all pale,", "So that unnethes upon his horse he sat,", "He would avalen neither hood nor hat,", "Nor abide no man for his courtesy,", "But in Pilate's voice he gan to cry,", "And swore by armes, and by blood, and bones,", "\"I can a noble tale for the nones", "With which I will now quite the Knighte's tale.\"", "Our Host saw well how drunk he was of ale,", "And said; \"Robin, abide, my leve brother,", "Some better man shall tell us first another:", "Abide, and let us worke thriftily.\"", "By Godde's soul,\" quoth he, \"that will not I,", "For I will speak, or elles go my way!\"", "Our Host answer'd; \"Tell on a devil way;", "Thou art a fool; thy wit is overcome.\"", "\"Now hearken,\" quoth the Miller, \"all and some:", "But first I make a protestatioun.", "That I am drunk, I know it by my soun':", "And therefore if that I misspeak or say,", "Wite it the ale of Southwark, I you pray:", "For I will tell a legend and a life", "Both of a carpenter and of his wife,", "How that a clerk hath set the wrighte's cap.\"", "The Reeve answer'd and saide, \"Stint thy clap,", "Let be thy lewed drunken harlotry.", "It is a sin, and eke a great folly", "To apeiren any man, or him defame,", "And eke to bringe wives in evil name.", "Thou may'st enough of other thinges sayn.\"", "This drunken Miller spake full soon again,", "And saide, \"Leve brother Osewold,", "Who hath no wife, he is no cuckold.", "But I say not therefore that thou art one;", "There be full goode wives many one.", "Why art thou angry with my tale now?", "I have a wife, pardie, as well as thou,", "Yet n'old I, for the oxen in my plough,", "Taken upon me more than enough,", "To deemen of myself that I am one;", "I will believe well that I am none.", "An husband should not be inquisitive", "Of Godde's privity, nor of his wife.", "So he may finde Godde's foison there,", "Of the remnant needeth not to enquere.\"", "", "What should I more say, but that this Millere", "He would his wordes for no man forbear,", "But told his churlish tale in his mannere;", "Me thinketh, that I shall rehearse it here.", "And therefore every gentle wight I pray,", "For Godde's love to deem not that I say", "Of evil intent, but that I must rehearse", "Their tales all, be they better or worse,", "Or elles falsen some of my mattere.", "And therefore whoso list it not to hear,", "Turn o'er the leaf, and choose another tale;", "For he shall find enough, both great and smale,", "Of storial thing that toucheth gentiless,", "And eke morality and holiness.", "Blame not me, if that ye choose amiss.", "The Miller is a churl, ye know well this,", "So was the Reeve, with many other mo',", "And harlotry they tolde bothe two.", "Avise you now, and put me out of blame;", "And eke men should not make earnest of game.", "", "THE TALE.", "", "Whilom there was dwelling in Oxenford", "A riche gnof, that guestes held to board,", "And of his craft he was a carpenter.", "With him there was dwelling a poor scholer,", "Had learned art, but all his fantasy", "Was turned for to learn astrology.", "He coude a certain of conclusions", "To deeme by interrogations,", "If that men asked him in certain hours,", "When that men should have drought or elles show'rs:", "Or if men asked him what shoulde fall", "Of everything, I may not reckon all.", "", "This clerk was called Hendy Nicholas;", "Of derne love he knew and of solace;", "And therewith he was sly and full privy,", "And like a maiden meek for to see.", "A chamber had he in that hostelry", "Alone, withouten any company,", "Full fetisly y-dight with herbes swoot,", "And he himself was sweet as is the root", "Of liquorice, or any setewall.", "His Almagest, and bookes great and small,", "His astrolabe, belonging to his art,", "His augrim stones, layed fair apart", "On shelves couched at his bedde's head,", "His press y-cover'd with a falding red.", "And all above there lay a gay psalt'ry", "On which he made at nightes melody,", "So sweetely, that all the chamber rang:", "And Angelus ad virginem he sang.", "And after that he sung the kinge's note;", "Full often blessed was his merry throat.", "And thus this sweete clerk his time spent", "After his friendes finding and his rent.", "", "This carpenter had wedded new a wife,", "Which that he loved more than his life:", "Of eighteen year, I guess, she was of age.", "Jealous he was, and held her narr'w in cage,", "For she was wild and young, and he was old,", "And deemed himself belike a cuckold.", "He knew not Cato, for his wit was rude,", "That bade a man wed his similitude.", "Men shoulde wedden after their estate,", "For youth and eld are often at debate.", "But since that he was fallen in the snare,", "He must endure (as other folk) his care.", "Fair was this younge wife, and therewithal", "As any weasel her body gent and small.", "A seint she weared, barred all of silk,", "A barm-cloth eke as white as morning milk", "Upon her lendes, full of many a gore.", "White was her smock, and broider'd all before,", "And eke behind, on her collar about", "Of coal-black silk, within and eke without.", "The tapes of her white volupere", "Were of the same suit of her collere;", "Her fillet broad of silk, and set full high:", "And sickerly she had a likerous eye.", "Full small y-pulled were her browes two,", "And they were bent, and black as any sloe.", "She was well more blissful on to see", "Than is the newe perjenete tree;", "And softer than the wool is of a wether.", "And by her girdle hung a purse of leather,", "Tassel'd with silk, and pearled with latoun.", "In all this world to seeken up and down", "There is no man so wise, that coude thenche", "So gay a popelot, or such a wench.", "Full brighter was the shining of her hue,", "Than in the Tower the noble forged new.", "But of her song, it was as loud and yern,", "As any swallow chittering on a bern.", "Thereto she coulde skip, and make a game", "As any kid or calf following his dame.", "Her mouth was sweet as braket, or as methe", "Or hoard of apples, laid in hay or heath.", "Wincing she was as is a jolly colt,", "Long as a mast, and upright as a bolt.", "A brooch she bare upon her low collere,", "As broad as is the boss of a bucklere.", "Her shoon were laced on her legges high;", "She was a primerole, a piggesnie ,", "For any lord t' have ligging in his bed,", "Or yet for any good yeoman to wed.", "", "Now, sir, and eft sir, so befell the case,", "That on a day this Hendy Nicholas", "Fell with this younge wife to rage and play,", "While that her husband was at Oseney,", "As clerkes be full subtle and full quaint.", "And privily he caught her by the queint,", "And said; \"Y-wis, but if I have my will,", "For derne love of thee, leman, I spill.\"", "And helde her fast by the haunche bones,", "And saide \"Leman, love me well at once,", "Or I will dien, all so God me save.\"", "And she sprang as a colt doth in the trave:", "And with her head she writhed fast away,", "And said; \"I will not kiss thee, by my fay.", "Why let be,\" quoth she, \"let be, Nicholas,", "Or I will cry out harow and alas!", "Do away your handes, for your courtesy.\"", "This Nicholas gan mercy for to cry,", "And spake so fair, and proffer'd him so fast,", "That she her love him granted at the last,", "And swore her oath by Saint Thomas of Kent,", "That she would be at his commandement,", "When that she may her leisure well espy.", "\"My husband is so full of jealousy,", "That but ye waite well, and be privy,", "I wot right well I am but dead,\" quoth she.", "\"Ye muste be full derne as in this case.\"", "\"Nay, thereof care thee nought,\" quoth Nicholas:", "\"A clerk had litherly beset his while,", "But if he could a carpenter beguile.\"", "And thus they were accorded and y-sworn", "To wait a time, as I have said beforn.", "When Nicholas had done thus every deal,", "And thwacked her about the lendes well,", "He kiss'd her sweet, and taketh his psalt'ry", "And playeth fast, and maketh melody.", "Then fell it thus, that to the parish church,", "Of Christe's owen workes for to wirch,", "This good wife went upon a holy day;", "Her forehead shone as bright as any day,", "So was it washen, when she left her werk.", "", "Now was there of that church a parish clerk,", "The which that was y-cleped Absolon.", "Curl'd was his hair, and as the gold it shone,", "And strutted as a fanne large and broad;", "Full straight and even lay his jolly shode.", "His rode was red, his eyen grey as goose,", "With Paule's windows carven on his shoes", "In hosen red he went full fetisly.", "Y-clad he was full small and properly,", "All in a kirtle of a light waget;", "Full fair and thicke be the pointes set,", "And thereupon he had a gay surplice,", "As white as is the blossom on the rise.", "A merry child he was, so God me save;", "Well could he letten blood, and clip, and shave,", "And make a charter of land, and a quittance.", "In twenty manners could he trip and dance,", "After the school of Oxenforde tho,", "And with his legges caste to and fro;", "And playen songes on a small ribible;", "Thereto he sung sometimes a loud quinible", "And as well could he play on a gitern.", "In all the town was brewhouse nor tavern,", "That he not visited with his solas,", "There as that any garnard tapstere was.", "But sooth to say he was somedeal squaimous", "Of farting, and of speeche dangerous.", "This Absolon, that jolly was and gay,", "Went with a censer on the holy day,", "Censing the wives of the parish fast;", "And many a lovely look he on them cast,", "And namely on this carpenter's wife:", "To look on her him thought a merry life.", "She was so proper, and sweet, and likerous.", "I dare well say, if she had been a mouse,", "And he a cat, he would her hent anon.", "This parish clerk, this jolly Absolon,", "Hath in his hearte such a love-longing!", "That of no wife took he none offering;", "For courtesy he said he woulde none.", "The moon at night full clear and brighte shone,", "And Absolon his gitern hath y-taken,", "For paramours he thoughte for to waken,", "And forth he went, jolif and amorous,", "Till he came to the carpentere's house,", "A little after the cock had y-crow,", "And dressed him under a shot window ,", "That was upon the carpentere's wall.", "He singeth in his voice gentle and small;", "\"Now, dear lady, if thy will be,", "I pray that ye will rue on me;\"", "Full well accordant to his giterning.", "This carpenter awoke, and heard him sing,", "And spake unto his wife, and said anon,", "What Alison, hear'st thou not Absolon,", "That chanteth thus under our bower wall?\"", "And she answer'd her husband therewithal;", "\"Yes, God wot, John, I hear him every deal.\"", "This passeth forth; what will ye bet than well?", "", "From day to day this jolly Absolon", "So wooeth her, that him is woebegone.", "He waketh all the night, and all the day,", "To comb his lockes broad, and make him gay.", "He wooeth her by means and by brocage,", "And swore he woulde be her owen page.", "He singeth brokking as a nightingale.", "He sent her piment , mead, and spiced ale,", "And wafers piping hot out of the glede:", "And, for she was of town, he proffer'd meed.", "For some folk will be wonnen for richess,", "And some for strokes, and some with gentiless.", "Sometimes, to show his lightness and mast'ry,", "He playeth Herod on a scaffold high.", "But what availeth him as in this case?", "So loveth she the Hendy Nicholas,", "That Absolon may blow the bucke's horn:", "He had for all his labour but a scorn.", "And thus she maketh Absolon her ape,", "And all his earnest turneth to a jape.", "Full sooth is this proverb, it is no lie;", "Men say right thus alway; the nighe sly", "Maketh oft time the far lief to be loth.", "For though that Absolon be wood or wroth", "Because that he far was from her sight,", "This nigh Nicholas stood still in his light.", "Now bear thee well, thou Hendy Nicholas,", "For Absolon may wail and sing \"Alas!\"", "", "And so befell, that on a Saturday", "This carpenter was gone to Oseney,", "And Hendy Nicholas and Alison", "Accorded were to this conclusion,", "That Nicholas shall shape him a wile", "The silly jealous husband to beguile;", "And if so were the game went aright,", "She shoulde sleepen in his arms all night;", "For this was her desire and his also.", "And right anon, withoute wordes mo',", "This Nicholas no longer would he tarry,", "But doth full soft unto his chamber carry", "Both meat and drinke for a day or tway.", "And to her husband bade her for to say,", "If that he asked after Nicholas,", "She shoulde say, \"She wist not where he was;", "Of all the day she saw him not with eye;", "She trowed he was in some malady,", "For no cry that her maiden could him call", "He would answer, for nought that might befall.\"", "Thus passed forth all thilke Saturday,", "That Nicholas still in his chamber lay,", "And ate, and slept, and didde what him list", "Till Sunday, that the sunne went to rest.", "This silly carpenter had great marvaill", "Of Nicholas, or what thing might him ail,", "And said; \"I am adrad, by Saint Thomas!", "It standeth not aright with Nicholas:", "God shielde that he died suddenly.", "This world is now full fickle sickerly.", "I saw to-day a corpse y-borne to chirch,", "That now on Monday last I saw him wirch.", "\"Go up,\" quod he unto his knave, \"anon;", "Clepe at his door, or knocke with a stone:", "Look how it is, and tell me boldely.\"", "This knave went him up full sturdily,", "And, at the chamber door while that he stood,", "He cried and knocked as that he were wood:", "\"What how? what do ye, Master Nicholay?", "How may ye sleepen all the longe day?\"", "But all for nought, he hearde not a word.", "An hole he found full low upon the board,", "Where as the cat was wont in for to creep,", "And at that hole he looked in full deep,", "And at the last he had of him a sight.", "This Nicholas sat ever gaping upright,", "As he had kyked on the newe moon.", "Adown he went, and told his master soon,", "In what array he saw this ilke man.", "", "This carpenter to blissen him began,", "And said: \"Now help us, Sainte Frideswide.", "A man wot little what shall him betide.", "This man is fall'n with his astronomy", "Into some woodness or some agony.", "I thought aye well how that it shoulde be.", "Men should know nought of Godde's privity.", "Yea, blessed be alway a lewed man,", "That nought but only his believe can.", "So far'd another clerk with astronomy:", "He walked in the fieldes for to pry", "Upon the starres, what there should befall,", "Till he was in a marle pit y-fall.", "He saw not that. But yet, by Saint Thomas!", "Me rueth sore of Hendy Nicholas:", "He shall be rated of his studying,", "If that I may, by Jesus, heaven's king!", "Get me a staff, that I may underspore", "While that thou, Robin, heavest off the door:", "He shall out of his studying, as I guess.\"", "And to the chamber door he gan him dress", "His knave was a strong carl for the nonce,", "And by the hasp he heav'd it off at once;", "Into the floor the door fell down anon.", "This Nicholas sat aye as still as stone,", "And ever he gap'd upward into the air.", "The carpenter ween'd he were in despair,", "And hent him by the shoulders mightily,", "And shook him hard, and cried spitously;", "\"What, Nicholas? what how, man? look adown:", "Awake, and think on Christe's passioun.", "I crouche thee from elves, and from wights.", "Therewith the night-spell said he anon rights,", "On the four halves of the house about,", "And on the threshold of the door without.", "\"Lord Jesus Christ, and Sainte Benedight,", "Blesse this house from every wicked wight,", "From the night mare, the white Pater-noster;", "Where wonnest thou now, Sainte Peter's sister?\"", "And at the last this Hendy Nicholas", "Gan for to sigh full sore, and said; \"Alas!", "Shall all time world be lost eftsoones now?\"", "This carpenter answer'd; \"What sayest thou?", "What? think on God, as we do, men that swink.\"", "This Nicholas answer'd; \"Fetch me a drink;", "And after will I speak in privity", "Of certain thing that toucheth thee and me:", "I will tell it no other man certain.\"", "", "This carpenter went down, and came again,", "And brought of mighty ale a large quart;", "And when that each of them had drunk his part,", "This Nicholas his chamber door fast shet,", "And down the carpenter by him he set,", "And saide; \"John, mine host full lief and dear,", "Thou shalt upon thy truthe swear me here,", "That to no wight thou shalt my counsel wray:", "For it is Christes counsel that I say,", "And if thou tell it man, thou art forlore:", "For this vengeance thou shalt have therefor,", "That if thou wraye me, thou shalt be wood.\"", "\"Nay, Christ forbid it for his holy blood!\"", "Quoth then this silly man; \"I am no blab,", "Nor, though I say it, am I lief to gab.", "Say what thou wilt, I shall it never tell", "To child or wife, by him that harried Hell.\"", "", "\"Now, John,\" quoth Nicholas, \"I will not lie,", "I have y-found in my astrology,", "As I have looked in the moone bright,", "That now on Monday next, at quarter night,", "Shall fall a rain, and that so wild and wood,", "That never half so great was Noe's flood.", "This world,\" he said, \"in less than half an hour", "Shall all be dreint, so hideous is the shower:", "Thus shall mankinde drench, and lose their life.\"", "This carpenter answer'd; \"Alas, my wife!", "And shall she drench? alas, mine Alisoun!\"", "For sorrow of this he fell almost adown,", "And said; \"Is there no remedy in this case?\"", "\"Why, yes, for God,\" quoth Hendy Nicholas;", "\"If thou wilt worken after lore and rede;", "Thou may'st not worken after thine own head.", "For thus saith Solomon, that was full true:", "Work all by counsel, and thou shalt not rue.", "And if thou worke wilt by good counseil,", "I undertake, withoute mast or sail,", "Yet shall I save her, and thee, and me.", "Hast thou not heard how saved was Noe,", "When that our Lord had warned him beforn,", "That all the world with water should be lorn?\"", "\"Yes,\" quoth this carpenter,\" full yore ago.\"", "\"Hast thou not heard,\" quoth Nicholas, \"also", "The sorrow of Noe, with his fellowship,", "That he had ere he got his wife to ship?", "Him had been lever, I dare well undertake,", "At thilke time, than all his wethers black,", "That she had had a ship herself alone.", "And therefore know'st thou what is best to be done?", "This asketh haste, and of an hasty thing", "Men may not preach or make tarrying.", "Anon go get us fast into this inn", "A kneading trough, or else a kemelin,", "For each of us; but look that they be large,", "In whiche we may swim as in a barge:", "And have therein vitaille suffisant", "But for one day; fie on the remenant;", "The water shall aslake and go away", "Aboute prime upon the nexte day.", "But Robin may not know of this, thy knave,", "Nor eke thy maiden Gill I may not save:", "Ask me not why: for though thou aske me", "I will not telle Godde's privity.", "Sufficeth thee, but if thy wit be mad,", "To have as great a grace as Noe had;", "Thy wife shall I well saven out of doubt.", "Go now thy way, and speed thee hereabout.", "But when thou hast for her, and thee, and me,", "Y-gotten us these kneading tubbes three,", "Then shalt thou hang them in the roof full high,", "So that no man our purveyance espy:", "And when thou hast done thus as I have said,", "And hast our vitaille fair in them y-laid,", "And eke an axe to smite the cord in two", "When that the water comes, that we may go,", "And break an hole on high upon the gable", "Into the garden-ward, over the stable,", "That we may freely passe forth our way,", "When that the greate shower is gone away.", "Then shalt thou swim as merry, I undertake,", "As doth the white duck after her drake:", "Then will I clepe, 'How, Alison? How, John?", "Be merry: for the flood will pass anon.'", "And thou wilt say, 'Hail, Master Nicholay,", "Good-morrow, I see thee well, for it is day.'", "And then shall we be lordes all our life", "Of all the world, as Noe and his wife.", "But of one thing I warne thee full right,", "Be well advised, on that ilke night,", "When we be enter'd into shippe's board,", "That none of us not speak a single word,", "Nor clepe nor cry, but be in his prayere,", "For that is Godde's owen heste dear.", "Thy wife and thou must hangen far atween,", "For that betwixte you shall be no sin,", "No more in looking than there shall in deed.", "This ordinance is said: go, God thee speed", "To-morrow night, when men be all asleep,", "Into our kneading tubbes will we creep,", "And sitte there, abiding Godde's grace.", "Go now thy way, I have no longer space", "To make of this no longer sermoning:", "Men say thus: Send the wise, and say nothing:", "Thou art so wise, it needeth thee nought teach.", "Go, save our lives, and that I thee beseech.\"", "", "This silly carpenter went forth his way,", "Full oft he said, \"Alas! and Well-a-day!,'", "And to his wife he told his privity,", "And she was ware, and better knew than he", "What all this quainte cast was for to say.", "But natheless she fear'd as she would dey,", "And said: \"Alas! go forth thy way anon.", "Help us to scape, or we be dead each one.", "I am thy true and very wedded wife;", "Go, deare spouse, and help to save our life.\"", "Lo, what a great thing is affection!", "Men may die of imagination,", "So deeply may impression be take.", "This silly carpenter begins to quake:", "He thinketh verily that he may see", "This newe flood come weltering as the sea", "To drenchen Alison, his honey dear.", "He weepeth, waileth, maketh sorry cheer;", "He sigheth, with full many a sorry sough.", "He go'th, and getteth him a kneading trough,", "And after that a tub, and a kemelin,", "And privily he sent them to his inn:", "And hung them in the roof full privily.", "With his own hand then made he ladders three,", "To climbe by the ranges and the stalks", "Unto the tubbes hanging in the balks;", "And victualed them, kemelin, trough, and tub,", "With bread and cheese, and good ale in a jub,", "Sufficing right enough as for a day.", "But ere that he had made all this array,", "He sent his knave, and eke his wench also,", "Upon his need to London for to go.", "And on the Monday, when it drew to night,", "He shut his door withoute candle light,", "And dressed every thing as it should be.", "And shortly up they climbed all the three.", "They satte stille well a furlong way.", "\"Now, Pater noster, clum,\" said Nicholay,", "And \"clum,\" quoth John; and \"clum,\" said Alison:", "This carpenter said his devotion,", "And still he sat and bidded his prayere,", "Awaking on the rain, if he it hear.", "The deade sleep, for weary business,", "Fell on this carpenter, right as I guess,", "About the curfew-time, or little more,", "For travail of his ghost he groaned sore,", "And eft he routed, for his head mislay.", "Adown the ladder stalked Nicholay;", "And Alison full soft adown she sped.", "Withoute wordes more they went to bed,", "There as the carpenter was wont to lie:", "There was the revel, and the melody.", "And thus lay Alison and Nicholas,", "In business of mirth and in solace,", "Until the bell of laudes gan to ring,", "And friars in the chancel went to sing.", "", "This parish clerk, this amorous Absolon,", "That is for love alway so woebegone,", "Upon the Monday was at Oseney", "With company, him to disport and play;", "And asked upon cas a cloisterer", "Full privily after John the carpenter;", "And he drew him apart out of the church,", "And said, \"I n'ot; I saw him not here wirch", "Since Saturday; I trow that he be went", "For timber, where our abbot hath him sent.", "And dwellen at the Grange a day or two:", "For he is wont for timber for to go,", "Or else he is at his own house certain.", "Where that he be, I cannot soothly sayn.\"", "This Absolon full jolly was and light,", "And thought, \"Now is the time to wake all night,", "For sickerly I saw him not stirring", "About his door, since day began to spring.", "So may I thrive, but I shall at cock crow", "Full privily go knock at his window,", "That stands full low upon his bower wall:", "To Alison then will I tellen all", "My love-longing; for I shall not miss", "That at the leaste way I shall her kiss.", "Some manner comfort shall I have, parfay,", "My mouth hath itched all this livelong day:", "That is a sign of kissing at the least.", "All night I mette eke I was at a feast.", "Therefore I will go sleep an hour or tway,", "And all the night then will I wake and play.\"", "When that the first cock crowed had, anon", "Up rose this jolly lover Absolon,", "And him arrayed gay, at point devise.", "But first he chewed grains and liquorice,", "To smelle sweet, ere he had combed his hair.", "Under his tongue a true love he bare,", "For thereby thought he to be gracious.", "", "Then came he to the carpentere's house,", "And still he stood under the shot window;", "Unto his breast it raught, it was so low;", "And soft he coughed with a semisoun'.", "\"What do ye, honeycomb, sweet Alisoun?", "My faire bird, my sweet cinamome,", "Awaken, leman mine, and speak to me.", "Full little thinke ye upon my woe,", "That for your love I sweat there as I go.", "No wonder is that I do swelt and sweat.", "I mourn as doth a lamb after the teat", "Y-wis, leman, I have such love-longing,", "That like a turtle true is my mourning.", "I may not eat, no more than a maid.\"", "\"Go from the window, thou jack fool,\" she said:", "\"As help me God, it will not be, 'come ba me.'", "I love another, else I were to blame\",", "Well better than thee, by Jesus, Absolon.", "Go forth thy way, or I will cast a stone;", "And let me sleep; a twenty devil way.", "\"Alas!\" quoth Absolon, \"and well away!", "That true love ever was so ill beset:", "Then kiss me, since that it may be no bet,", "For Jesus' love, and for the love of me.\"", "\"Wilt thou then go thy way therewith?\" , quoth she.", "\"Yea, certes, leman,\" quoth this Absolon.", "\"Then make thee ready,\" quoth she, \"I come anon.\"", "[And unto Nicholas she said full still:", "\"Now peace, and thou shalt laugh anon thy fill.\"]", "This Absolon down set him on his knees,", "And said; \"I am a lord at all degrees:", "For after this I hope there cometh more;", "Leman, thy grace, and, sweete bird, thine ore.\"", "The window she undid, and that in haste.", "\"Have done,\" quoth she, \"come off, and speed thee fast,", "Lest that our neighebours should thee espy.\"", "Then Absolon gan wipe his mouth full dry.", "Dark was the night as pitch or as the coal,", "And at the window she put out her hole,", "And Absolon him fell ne bet ne werse,", "But with his mouth he kiss'd her naked erse", "Full savourly. When he was ware of this,", "Aback he start, and thought it was amiss;", "For well he wist a woman hath no beard.", "He felt a thing all rough, and long y-hair'd,", "And saide; \"Fy, alas! what have I do?\"", "\"Te he!\" quoth she, and clapt the window to;", "And Absolon went forth at sorry pace.", "\"A beard, a beard,\" said Hendy Nicholas;", "\"By God's corpus, this game went fair and well.\"", "This silly Absolon heard every deal,", "And on his lip he gan for anger bite;", "And to himself he said, \"I shall thee quite.", "Who rubbeth now, who frotteth now his lips", "With dust, with sand, with straw, with cloth, with chips,", "But Absolon? that saith full oft, \"Alas!", "My soul betake I unto Sathanas,", "But me were lever than all this town,\" quoth he", "I this despite awroken for to be.", "Alas! alas! that I have been y-blent.\"", "His hote love is cold, and all y-quent.", "For from that time that he had kiss'd her erse,", "Of paramours he sette not a kers,", "For he was healed of his malady;", "Full often paramours he gan defy,", "And weep as doth a child that hath been beat.", "A softe pace he went over the street", "Unto a smith, men callen Dan Gerveis,", "That in his forge smithed plough-harness;", "He sharped share and culter busily.", "This Absolon knocked all easily,", "And said; \"Undo, Gerveis, and that anon.\"", "\"What, who art thou?\" \"It is I, Absolon.\"", "\"What? Absolon, what? Christe's sweete tree,", "Why rise so rath? hey! Benedicite,", "What aileth you? some gay girl, God it wote,", "Hath brought you thus upon the viretote:", "By Saint Neot, ye wot well what I mean.\"", "This Absolon he raughte not a bean", "Of all his play; no word again he gaf,", "For he had more tow on his distaff", "Than Gerveis knew, and saide; \"Friend so dear,", "That hote culter in the chimney here", "Lend it to me, I have therewith to don:", "I will it bring again to thee full soon.\"", "Gerveis answered; \"Certes, were it gold,", "Or in a poke nobles all untold,", "Thou shouldst it have, as I am a true smith.", "Hey! Christe's foot, what will ye do therewith?\"", "\"Thereof,\" quoth Absolon, \"be as be may;", "I shall well tell it thee another day:\"", "And caught the culter by the colde stele.", "Full soft out at the door he gan to steal,", "And went unto the carpentere's wall", "He coughed first, and knocked therewithal", "Upon the window, light as he did ere.", "This Alison answered; \"Who is there", "That knocketh so? I warrant him a thief.\"", "\"Nay, nay,\" quoth he, \"God wot, my sweete lefe,", "I am thine Absolon, my own darling.", "Of gold,\" quoth he, \"I have thee brought a ring,", "My mother gave it me, so God me save!", "Full fine it is, and thereto well y-grave:", "This will I give to thee, if thou me kiss.\"", "Now Nicholas was risen up to piss,", "And thought he would amenden all the jape;", "He shoulde kiss his erse ere that he scape:", "And up the window did he hastily,", "And out his erse he put full privily", "Over the buttock, to the haunche bone.", "And therewith spake this clerk, this Absolon,", "\"Speak, sweete bird, I know not where thou art.\"", "This Nicholas anon let fly a fart,", "As great as it had been a thunder dent;", "That with the stroke he was well nigh y-blent;", "But he was ready with his iron hot,", "And Nicholas amid the erse he smote.", "Off went the skin an handbreadth all about.", "The hote culter burned so his tout,", "That for the smart he weened he would die;", "As he were wood, for woe he gan to cry,", "\"Help! water, water, help for Godde's heart!\"", "", "This carpenter out of his slumber start,", "And heard one cry \"Water,\" as he were wood,", "And thought, \"Alas! now cometh Noe's flood.\"", "He sat him up withoute wordes mo'", "And with his axe he smote the cord in two;", "And down went all; he found neither to sell", "Nor bread nor ale, till he came to the sell,", "Upon the floor, and there in swoon he lay.", "Up started Alison and Nicholay,", "And cried out an \"harow!\" in the street.", "The neighbours alle, bothe small and great", "In ranne, for to gauren on this man,", "That yet in swoone lay, both pale and wan:", "For with the fall he broken had his arm.", "But stand he must unto his owen harm,", "For when he spake, he was anon borne down", "With Hendy Nicholas and Alisoun.", "They told to every man that he was wood;", "He was aghaste so of Noe's flood,", "Through phantasy, that of his vanity", "He had y-bought him kneading-tubbes three,", "And had them hanged in the roof above;", "And that he prayed them for Godde's love", "To sitten in the roof for company.", "The folk gan laughen at his phantasy.", "Into the roof they kyken and they gape,", "And turned all his harm into a jape.", "For whatsoe'er this carpenter answer'd,", "It was for nought, no man his reason heard.", "With oathes great he was so sworn adown,", "That he was holden wood in all the town.", "For every clerk anon right held with other;", "They said, \"The man was wood, my leve brother;\"", "And every wight gan laughen at his strife.", "Thus swived was the carpentere's wife,", "For all his keeping and his jealousy;", "And Absolon hath kiss'd her nether eye;", "And Nicholas is scalded in the tout.", "This tale is done, and God save all the rout." ], "linecount": "746" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Squire's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "THE PROLOGUE.", "", "\"HEY! Godde's mercy!\" said our Hoste tho,", "\"Now such a wife I pray God keep me fro'.", "Lo, suche sleightes and subtilities", "In women be; for aye as busy as bees", "Are they us silly men for to deceive,", "And from the soothe will they ever weive,", "As this Merchante's tale it proveth well.", "But natheless, as true as any steel,", "I have a wife, though that she poore be;", "But of her tongue a labbing shrew is she;", "And yet she hath a heap of vices mo'.", "Thereof no force; let all such thinges go.", "But wit ye what? in counsel be it said,", "Me rueth sore I am unto her tied;", "For, an' I shoulde reckon every vice", "Which that she hath, y-wis I were too nice;", "And cause why, it should reported be", "And told her by some of this company", "(By whom, it needeth not for to declare,", "Since women connen utter such chaffare ),", "And eke my wit sufficeth not thereto", "To tellen all; wherefore my tale is do.", "Squier, come near, if it your wille be,", "And say somewhat of love, for certes ye", "Conne thereon as much as any man.\"", "\"Nay, Sir,\" quoth he; \"but such thing as I can,", "With hearty will, -- for I will not rebel", "Against your lust, -- a tale will I tell.", "Have me excused if I speak amiss;", "My will is good; and lo, my tale is this.\"", "", "THE TALE.", "", "Pars Prima.", "", "At Sarra, in the land of Tartary,", "There dwelt a king that warrayed Russie,", "Through which there died many a doughty man;", "This noble king was called Cambuscan,", "Which in his time was of so great renown,", "That there was nowhere in no regioun", "So excellent a lord in alle thing:", "Him lacked nought that longeth to a king,", "As of the sect of which that he was born.", "He kept his law to which he was y-sworn,", "And thereto he was hardy, wise, and rich,", "And piteous and just, always y-lich;", "True of his word, benign and honourable;", "Of his corage as any centre stable;", "Young, fresh, and strong, in armes desirous", "As any bachelor of all his house.", "A fair person he was, and fortunate,", "And kept alway so well his royal estate,", "That there was nowhere such another man.", "This noble king, this Tartar Cambuscan,", "Hadde two sons by Elfeta his wife,", "Of which the eldest highte Algarsife,", "The other was y-called Camballo.", "A daughter had this worthy king also,", "That youngest was, and highte Canace:", "But for to telle you all her beauty,", "It lies not in my tongue, nor my conning;", "I dare not undertake so high a thing:", "Mine English eke is insufficient,", "It muste be a rhetor excellent,", "That couth his colours longing for that art,", "If he should her describen any part;", "I am none such, I must speak as I can.", "", "And so befell, that when this Cambuscan", "Had twenty winters borne his diadem,", "As he was wont from year to year, I deem,", "He let the feast of his nativity", "Do crye, throughout Sarra his city,", "The last Idus of March, after the year.", "Phoebus the sun full jolly was and clear,", "For he was nigh his exaltation", "In Marte's face, and in his mansion", "In Aries, the choleric hot sign:", "Full lusty was the weather and benign;", "For which the fowls against the sunne sheen,", "What for the season and the younge green,", "Full loude sange their affections:", "Them seemed to have got protections", "Against the sword of winter keen and cold.", "This Cambuscan, of which I have you told,", "In royal vesture, sat upon his dais,", "With diadem, full high in his palace;", "And held his feast so solemn and so rich,", "That in this worlde was there none it lich.", "Of which if I should tell all the array,", "Then would it occupy a summer's day;", "And eke it needeth not for to devise", "At every course the order of service.", "I will not tellen of their strange sewes,", "Nor of their swannes, nor their heronsews.", "Eke in that land, as telle knightes old,", "There is some meat that is full dainty hold,", "That in this land men reck of it full small:", "There is no man that may reporten all.", "I will not tarry you, for it is prime,", "And for it is no fruit, but loss of time;", "Unto my purpose I will have recourse.", "And so befell that, after the third course,", "While that this king sat thus in his nobley,", "Hearing his ministreles their thinges play", "Before him at his board deliciously,", "In at the halle door all suddenly", "There came a knight upon a steed of brass,", "And in his hand a broad mirror of glass;", "Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring,", "And by his side a naked sword hanging:", "And up he rode unto the highe board.", "In all the hall was there not spoke a word,", "For marvel of this knight; him to behold", "Full busily they waited, young and old.", "", "This strange knight, that came thus suddenly,", "All armed, save his head, full richely,", "Saluted king, and queen, and lordes all,", "By order as they satten in the hall,", "With so high reverence and observance,", "As well in speech as in his countenance,", "That Gawain with his olde courtesy,", "Though he were come again out of Faerie,", "Him coulde not amende with a word.", "And after this, before the highe board,", "He with a manly voice said his message,", "After the form used in his language,", "Withoute vice of syllable or letter.", "And, for his tale shoulde seem the better,", "Accordant to his worde's was his cheer,", "As teacheth art of speech them that it lear.", "Albeit that I cannot sound his style,", "Nor cannot climb over so high a stile,", "Yet say I this, as to commune intent,", "Thus much amounteth all that ever he meant,", "If it so be that I have it in mind.", "He said; \"The king of Araby and Ind,", "My liege lord, on this solemne day", "Saluteth you as he best can and may,", "And sendeth you, in honour of your feast,", "By me, that am all ready at your hest,", "This steed of brass, that easily and well", "Can in the space of one day naturel", "(This is to say, in four-and-twenty hours),", "Whereso you list, in drought or else in show'rs,", "Beare your body into every place", "To which your hearte willeth for to pace,", "Withoute wem of you, through foul or fair.", "Or if you list to fly as high in air", "As doth an eagle, when him list to soar,", "This same steed shall bear you evermore", "Withoute harm, till ye be where you lest", "(Though that ye sleepen on his back, or rest),", "And turn again, with writhing of a pin.", "He that it wrought, he coude many a gin;", "He waited in any a constellation,", "Ere he had done this operation,", "And knew full many a seal and many a bond", "This mirror eke, that I have in mine hond,", "Hath such a might, that men may in it see", "When there shall fall any adversity", "Unto your realm, or to yourself also,", "And openly who is your friend or foe.", "And over all this, if any lady bright", "Hath set her heart on any manner wight,", "If he be false, she shall his treason see,", "His newe love, and all his subtlety,", "So openly that there shall nothing hide.", "Wherefore, against this lusty summer-tide,", "This mirror, and this ring that ye may see,", "He hath sent to my lady Canace,", "Your excellente daughter that is here.", "The virtue of this ring, if ye will hear,", "Is this, that if her list it for to wear", "Upon her thumb, or in her purse it bear,", "There is no fowl that flyeth under heaven,", "That she shall not well understand his steven,", "And know his meaning openly and plain,", "And answer him in his language again:", "And every grass that groweth upon root", "She shall eke know, to whom it will do boot,", "All be his woundes ne'er so deep and wide.", "This naked sword, that hangeth by my side,", "Such virtue hath, that what man that it smite,", "Throughout his armour it will carve and bite,", "Were it as thick as is a branched oak:", "And what man is y-wounded with the stroke", "Shall ne'er be whole, till that you list, of grace,", "To stroke him with the flat in thilke place", "Where he is hurt; this is as much to sayn,", "Ye muste with the flatte sword again", "Stroke him upon the wound, and it will close.", "This is the very sooth, withoute glose;", "It faileth not, while it is in your hold.\"", "", "And when this knight had thus his tale told,", "He rode out of the hall, and down he light.", "His steede, which that shone as sunne bright,", "Stood in the court as still as any stone.", "The knight is to his chamber led anon,", "And is unarmed, and to meat y-set.", "These presents be full richely y-fet, --", "This is to say, the sword and the mirrour, --", "And borne anon into the highe tow'r,", "With certain officers ordain'd therefor;", "And unto Canace the ring is bore", "Solemnely, where she sat at the table;", "But sickerly, withouten any fable,", "The horse of brass, that may not be remued.", "It stood as it were to the ground y-glued;", "There may no man out of the place it drive", "For no engine of windlass or polive;", "And cause why, for they can not the craft;", "And therefore in the place they have it laft,", "Till that the knight hath taught them the mannere", "To voide him, as ye shall after hear.", "", "Great was the press, that swarmed to and fro", "To gauren on this horse that stoode so:", "For it so high was, and so broad and long,", "So well proportioned for to be strong,", "Right as it were a steed of Lombardy;", "Therewith so horsely, and so quick of eye,", "As it a gentle Poileis courser were:", "For certes, from his tail unto his ear", "Nature nor art ne could him not amend", "In no degree, as all the people wend.", "But evermore their moste wonder was", "How that it coulde go, and was of brass;", "It was of Faerie, as the people seem'd.", "Diverse folk diversely they deem'd;", "As many heads, as many wittes been.", "They murmured, as doth a swarm of been,", "And made skills after their fantasies,", "Rehearsing of the olde poetries,", "And said that it was like the Pegasee,", "The horse that hadde winges for to flee;", "Or else it was the Greeke's horse Sinon,", "That broughte Troye to destruction,", "As men may in the olde gestes read.", "Mine heart,\" quoth one, \"is evermore in dread;", "I trow some men of armes be therein,", "That shape them this city for to win:", "It were right good that all such thing were know.\"", "Another rowned to his fellow low,", "And said, \"He lies; for it is rather like", "An apparence made by some magic,", "As jugglers playen at these feastes great.\"", "Of sundry doubts they jangle thus and treat.", "As lewed people deeme commonly", "Of thinges that be made more subtilly", "Than they can in their lewdness comprehend;", "They deeme gladly to the badder end.", "And some of them wonder'd on the mirrour,", "That borne was up into the master tow'r,", "How men might in it suche thinges see.", "Another answer'd and said, it might well be", "Naturally by compositions", "Of angles, and of sly reflections;", "And saide that in Rome was such a one.", "They speak of Alhazen and Vitellon,", "And Aristotle, that wrote in their lives", "Of quainte mirrors, and of prospectives,", "As knowe they that have their bookes heard.", "And other folk have wonder'd on the swerd,", "That woulde pierce throughout every thing;", "And fell in speech of Telephus the king,", "And of Achilles for his quainte spear,", "For he could with it bothe heal and dere,", "Right in such wise as men may with the swerd", "Of which right now ye have yourselves heard.", "They spake of sundry hard'ning of metal,", "And spake of medicines therewithal,", "And how, and when, it shoulde harden'd be,", "Which is unknowen algate unto me.", "Then spake they of Canacee's ring,", "And saiden all, that such a wondrous thing", "Of craft of rings heard they never none,", "Save that he, Moses, and King Solomon,", "Hadden a name of conning in such art.", "Thus said the people, and drew them apart.", "Put natheless some saide that it was", "Wonder to maken of fern ashes glass,", "And yet is glass nought like ashes of fern;", "But for they have y-knowen it so ferne", "Therefore ceaseth their jangling and their wonder.", "As sore wonder some on cause of thunder,", "On ebb and flood, on gossamer and mist,", "And on all things, till that the cause is wist.", "Thus jangle they, and deemen and devise,", "Till that the king gan from his board arise.", "", "Phoebus had left the angle meridional,", "And yet ascending was the beast royal,", "The gentle Lion, with his Aldrian,", "When that this Tartar king, this Cambuscan,", "Rose from the board, there as he sat full high", "Before him went the loude minstrelsy,", "Till he came to his chamber of parements,", "There as they sounded diverse instruments,", "That it was like a heaven for to hear.", "Now danced lusty Venus' children dear:", "For in the Fish their lady sat full", "And looked on them with a friendly eye.", "This noble king is set upon his throne;", "This strange knight is fetched to him full sone,", "And on the dance he goes with Canace.", "Here is the revel and the jollity,", "That is not able a dull man to devise:", "He must have knowen love and his service,", "And been a feastly man, as fresh as May,", "That shoulde you devise such array.", "Who coulde telle you the form of dances", "So uncouth, and so freshe countenances", "Such subtle lookings and dissimulances,", "For dread of jealous men's apperceivings?", "No man but Launcelot, and he is dead.", "Therefore I pass o'er all this lustihead", "I say no more, but in this jolliness", "I leave them, till to supper men them dress.", "The steward bids the spices for to hie", "And eke the wine, in all this melody;", "The ushers and the squiers be y-gone,", "The spices and the wine is come anon;", "They eat and drink, and when this hath an end,", "Unto the temple, as reason was, they wend;", "The service done, they suppen all by day", "What needeth you rehearse their array?", "Each man wot well, that at a kinge's feast", "Is plenty, to the most, and to the least,", "And dainties more than be in my knowing.", "", "At after supper went this noble king", "To see the horse of brass, with all a rout", "Of lordes and of ladies him about.", "Such wond'ring was there on this horse of brass,", "That, since the great siege of Troye was,", "There as men wonder'd on a horse also,", "Ne'er was there such a wond'ring as was tho.", "But finally the king asked the knight", "The virtue of this courser, and the might,", "And prayed him to tell his governance.", "The horse anon began to trip and dance,", "When that the knight laid hand upon his rein,", "And saide, \"Sir, there is no more to sayn,", "But when you list to riden anywhere,", "Ye muste trill a pin, stands in his ear,", "Which I shall telle you betwixt us two;", "Ye muste name him to what place also,", "Or to what country that you list to ride.", "And when ye come where you list abide,", "Bid him descend, and trill another pin", "(For therein lies th' effect of all the gin),", "And he will down descend and do your will,", "And in that place he will abide still;", "Though all the world had the contrary swore,", "He shall not thence be throwen nor be bore.", "Or, if you list to bid him thennes gon,", "Trill this pin, and he will vanish anon", "Out of the sight of every manner wight,", "And come again, be it by day or night,", "When that you list to clepe him again", "In such a guise, as I shall to you sayn", "Betwixte you and me, and that full soon.", "Ride when you list, there is no more to do'n.'", "Informed when the king was of the knight,", "And had conceived in his wit aright", "The manner and the form of all this thing,", "Full glad and blithe, this noble doughty king", "Repaired to his revel as beforn.", "The bridle is into the tower borne,", "And kept among his jewels lefe and dear;", "The horse vanish'd, I n'ot in what mannere,", "Out of their sight; ye get no more of me:", "But thus I leave in lust and jollity", "This Cambuscan his lordes feastying,", "Until well nigh the day began to spring.", "", "Pars Secunda.", "", "The norice of digestion, the sleep,", "Gan on them wink, and bade them take keep,", "That muche mirth and labour will have rest.", "And with a gaping mouth he all them kest,", "And said, that it was time to lie down,", "For blood was in his dominatioun:", "\"Cherish the blood, nature's friend,\" quoth he.", "They thanked him gaping, by two and three;", "And every wight gan draw him to his rest;", "As sleep them bade, they took it for the best.", "Their dreames shall not now be told for me;", "Full are their heades of fumosity,", "That caused dreams of which there is no charge:", "They slepte; till that, it was prime large,", "The moste part, but it was Canace;", "She was full measurable, as women be:", "For of her father had she ta'en her leave", "To go to rest, soon after it was eve;", "Her liste not appalled for to be;", "Nor on the morrow unfeastly for to see;", "And slept her firste sleep; and then awoke.", "For such a joy she in her hearte took", "Both of her quainte a ring and her mirrour,.", "That twenty times she changed her colour;", "And in her sleep, right for th' impression", "Of her mirror, she had a vision.", "Wherefore, ere that the sunne gan up glide,", "She call'd upon her mistress' her beside,", "And saide, that her liste for to rise.", "", "These olde women, that be gladly wise", "As are her mistresses answer'd anon,", "And said; \"Madame, whither will ye gon", "Thus early? for the folk be all in rest.\"", "\"I will,\" quoth she, \"arise; for me lest", "No longer for to sleep, and walk about.\"", "Her mistresses call'd women a great rout,", "And up they rose, well a ten or twelve;", "Up rose freshe Canace herselve,", "As ruddy and bright as is the yonnge sun", "That in the Ram is four degrees y-run;", "No higher was he, when she ready was;", "And forth she walked easily a pace,", "Array'd after the lusty season swoot,", "Lightely for to play, and walk on foot,", "Nought but with five or six of her meinie;", "And in a trench forth in the park went she.", "The vapour, which up from the earthe glode,", "Made the sun to seem ruddy and broad:", "But, natheless, it was so fair a sight", "That it made all their heartes for to light,", "What for the season and the morrowning,", "And for the fowles that she hearde sing.", "For right anon she wiste what they meant", "Right by their song, and knew all their intent.", "The knotte, why that every tale is told,", "If it be tarried till the list be cold", "Of them that have it hearken'd after yore,", "The savour passeth ever longer more;", "For fulsomness of the prolixity:", "And by that same reason thinketh me.", "I shoulde unto the knotte condescend,", "And maken of her walking soon an end.", "", "Amid a tree fordry, as white as chalk,", "There sat a falcon o'er her head full high,", "That with a piteous voice so gan to cry;", "That all the wood resounded of her cry,", "And beat she had herself so piteously", "With both her winges, till the redde blood", "Ran endelong the tree, there as she stood", "And ever-in-one alway she cried and shright;", "And with her beak herselfe she so pight,", "That there is no tiger, nor cruel beast,", "That dwelleth either in wood or in forest;", "But would have wept, if that he weepe could,", "For sorrow of her; she shriek'd alway so loud.", "For there was never yet no man alive,", "If that he could a falcon well descrive;", "That heard of such another of fairness", "As well of plumage, as of gentleness;", "Of shape, of all that mighte reckon'd be.", "A falcon peregrine seemed she,", "Of fremde land; and ever as she stood", "She swooned now and now for lack of blood;", "Till well-nigh is she fallen from the tree.", "", "This faire kinge's daughter Canace,", "That on her finger bare the quainte ring,", "Through which she understood well every thing", "That any fowl may in his leden sayn,", "And could him answer in his leden again;", "Hath understoode what this falcon said,", "And well-nigh for the ruth almost she died;.", "And to the tree she went, full hastily,", "And on this falcon looked piteously;", "And held her lap abroad; for well she wist", "The falcon muste falle from the twist", "When that she swooned next, for lack of blood.", "A longe while to waite her she stood;", "Till at the last she apake in this mannere", "Unto the hawk, as ye shall after hear:", "\"What is the cause, if it be for to tell,", "That ye be in this furial pain of hell?\"", "Quoth Canace unto this hawk above;", "\"Is this for sorrow of of death; or loss of love?", "For; as I trow, these be the causes two;", "That cause most a gentle hearte woe:", "Of other harm it needeth not to speak.", "For ye yourself upon yourself awreak;", "Which proveth well, that either ire or dread", "Must be occasion of your cruel deed,", "Since that I see none other wight you chase:", "For love of God, as do yourselfe grace;", "Or what may be your help? for, west nor east,", "I never saw ere now no bird nor beast", "That fared with himself so piteously", "Ye slay me with your sorrow verily;", "I have of you so great compassioun.", "For Godde's love come from the tree adown", "And, as I am a kinge's daughter true,", "If that I verily the causes knew", "Of your disease, if it lay in my might,", "I would amend it, ere that it were night,", "So wisly help me the great God of kind.", "And herbes shall I right enoughe find,", "To heale with your hurtes hastily.\"", "Then shriek'd this falcon yet more piteously", "Than ever she did, and fell to ground anon,", "And lay aswoon, as dead as lies a stone,", "Till Canace had in her lap her take,", "Unto that time she gan of swoon awake:", "And, after that she out of swoon abraid,", "Right in her hawke's leden thus she said:", "", "\"That pity runneth soon in gentle heart", "(Feeling his simil'tude in paines smart),", "Is proved every day, as men may see,", "As well by work as by authority;", "For gentle hearte kitheth gentleness.", "I see well, that ye have on my distress", "Compassion, my faire Canace,", "Of very womanly benignity", "That nature in your princples hath set.", "But for no hope for to fare the bet,", "But for t' obey unto your hearte free,", "And for to make others aware by me,", "As by the whelp chastis'd is the lion,", "Right for that cause and that conclusion,", "While that I have a leisure and a space,", "Mine harm I will confessen ere I pace.\"", "And ever while the one her sorrow told,", "The other wept, as she to water wo'ld,", "Till that the falcon bade her to be still,", "And with a sigh right thus she said her till:", "\"Where I was bred (alas that ilke day!)", "And foster'd in a rock of marble gray", "So tenderly, that nothing ailed me,", "I wiste not what was adversity,", "Till I could flee full high under the sky.", "Then dwell'd a tercelet me faste by,", "That seem'd a well of alle gentleness;", "All were he full of treason and falseness,", "It was so wrapped under humble cheer,", "And under hue of truth, in such mannere,", "Under pleasance, and under busy pain,", "That no wight weened that he coulde feign,", "So deep in grain he dyed his colours.", "Right as a serpent hides him under flow'rs,", "Till he may see his time for to bite,", "Right so this god of love's hypocrite", "Did so his ceremonies and obeisances,", "And kept in semblance all his observances,", "That sounden unto gentleness of love.", "As on a tomb is all the fair above,", "And under is the corpse, which that ye wet,", "Such was this hypocrite, both cold and hot;", "And in this wise he served his intent,", "That, save the fiend, none wiste what he meant:", "Till he so long had weeped and complain'd,", "And many a year his service to me feign'd,", "Till that mine heart, too piteous and too nice,", "All innocent of his crowned malice,", "Forfeared of his death, as thoughte me,", "Upon his oathes and his surety", "Granted him love, on this conditioun,", "That evermore mine honour and renown", "Were saved, bothe privy and apert;", "This is to say, that, after his desert,", "I gave him all my heart and all my thought", "(God wot, and he, that other wayes nought),", "And took his heart in change of mine for aye.", "But sooth is said, gone since many a day,", "A true wight and a thiefe think not one.", "And when he saw the thing so far y-gone,", "That I had granted him fully my love,", "In such a wise as I have said above,", "And given him my true heart as free", "As he swore that he gave his heart to me,", "Anon this tiger, full of doubleness,", "Fell on his knees with so great humbleness,", "With so high reverence, as by his cheer,", "So like a gentle lover in mannere,", "So ravish'd, as it seemed, for the joy,", "That never Jason, nor Paris of Troy, --", "Jason? certes, nor ever other man,", "Since Lamech was, that alderfirst began", "To love two, as write folk beforn,", "Nor ever since the firste man was born,", "Coulde no man, by twenty thousand", "Counterfeit the sophimes of his art;", "Where doubleness of feigning should approach,", "Nor worthy were t'unbuckle his galoche,", "Nor could so thank a wight, as he did me.", "His manner was a heaven for to see", "To any woman, were she ne'er so wise;", "So painted he and kempt, at point devise,", "As well his wordes as his countenance.", "And I so lov'd him for his obeisance,", "And for the truth I deemed in his heart,", "That, if so were that any thing him smart,", "All were it ne'er so lite, and I it wist,", "Methought I felt death at my hearte twist.", "And shortly, so farforth this thing is went,", "That my will was his wille's instrument;", "That is to say, my will obey'd his will", "In alle thing, as far as reason fill,", "Keeping the boundes of my worship ever;", "And never had I thing so lefe, or lever,", "As him, God wot, nor never shall no mo'.", "", "\"This lasted longer than a year or two,", "That I supposed of him naught but good.", "But finally, thus at the last it stood,", "That fortune woulde that he muste twin", "Out of that place which that I was in.", "Whe'er me was woe, it is no question;", "I cannot make of it description.", "For one thing dare I telle boldely,", "I know what is the pain of death thereby;", "Such harm I felt, for he might not byleve.", "So on a day of me he took his leave,", "So sorrowful eke, that I ween'd verily,", "That he had felt as muche harm as I,", "When that I heard him speak, and saw his hue.", "But natheless, I thought he was so true,", "And eke that he repaire should again", "Within a little while, sooth to sayn,", "And reason would eke that he muste go", "For his honour, as often happ'neth so,", "That I made virtue of necessity,", "And took it well, since that it muste be.", "As I best might, I hid from him my sorrow,", "And took him by the hand, Saint John to borrow,", "And said him thus; 'Lo, I am youres all;", "Be such as I have been to you, and shall.'", "What he answer'd, it needs not to rehearse;", "Who can say bet than he, who can do worse?", "When he had all well said, then had he done.", "Therefore behoveth him a full long spoon,", "That shall eat with a fiend; thus heard I say.", "So at the last he muste forth his way,", "And forth he flew, till he came where him lest.", "When it came him to purpose for to rest,", "I trow that he had thilke text in mind,", "That alle thing repairing to his kind", "Gladdeth himself; thus say men, as I guess;", "Men love of [proper] kind newfangleness,", "As birdes do, that men in cages feed.", "For though thou night and day take of them heed,", "And strew their cage fair and soft as silk,", "And give them sugar, honey, bread, and milk,", "Yet, right anon as that his door is up,", "He with his feet will spurne down his cup,", "And to the wood he will, and wormes eat;", "So newefangle be they of their meat,", "And love novelties, of proper kind;", "No gentleness of bloode may them bind.", "So far'd this tercelet, alas the day!", "Though he were gentle born, and fresh, and gay,", "And goodly for to see, and humble, and free,", "He saw upon a time a kite flee,", "And suddenly he loved this kite so,", "That all his love is clean from me y-go:", "And hath his trothe falsed in this wise.", "Thus hath the kite my love in her service,", "And I am lorn withoute remedy.\"", "", "And with that word this falcon gan to cry,", "And swooned eft in Canacee's barme", "Great was the sorrow, for that hawke's harm,", "That Canace and all her women made;", "They wist not how they might the falcon glade.", "But Canace home bare her in her lap,", "And softely in plasters gan her wrap,", "There as she with her beak had hurt herselve.", "Now cannot Canace but herbes delve", "Out of the ground, and make salves new", "Of herbes precious and fine of hue,", "To heale with this hawk; from day to night", "She did her business, and all her might.", "And by her bedde's head she made a mew,", "And cover'd it with velouettes blue,", "In sign of truth that is in woman seen;", "And all without the mew is painted green,", "In which were painted all these false fowls,", "As be these tidifes, tercelets, and owls;", "And pies, on them for to cry and chide,", "Right for despite were painted them beside.", "", "Thus leave I Canace her hawk keeping.", "I will no more as now speak of her ring,", "Till it come eft to purpose for to sayn", "How that this falcon got her love again", "Repentant, as the story telleth us,", "By mediation of Camballus,", "The kinge's son of which that I you told.", "But henceforth I will my process hold", "To speak of aventures, and of battailes,", "That yet was never heard so great marvailles.", "First I will telle you of Cambuscan,", "That in his time many a city wan;", "And after will I speak of Algarsife,", "How he won Theodora to his wife,", "For whom full oft in great peril he was,", "N'had he been holpen by the horse of brass.", "And after will I speak of Camballo,", "That fought in listes with the brethren two", "For Canace, ere that he might her win;", "And where I left I will again begin." ], "linecount": "695" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "THE PROLOGUE.", "", "Experience, though none authority", "Were in this world, is right enough for me", "To speak of woe that is in marriage:", "For, lordings, since I twelve year was of age,", "(Thanked be God that is etern on live),", "Husbands at the church door have I had five,", "For I so often have y-wedded be,", "And all were worthy men in their degree.", "But me was told, not longe time gone is", "That sithen Christe went never but ones", "To wedding, in the Cane of Galilee,", "That by that ilk example taught he me,", "That I not wedded shoulde be but once.", "Lo, hearken eke a sharp word for the nonce,", "Beside a welle Jesus, God and man,", "Spake in reproof of the Samaritan:", "\"Thou hast y-had five husbandes,\" said he;", "\"And thilke man, that now hath wedded thee,", "Is not thine husband:\" thus said he certain;", "What that he meant thereby, I cannot sayn.", "But that I aske, why the fifthe man", "Was not husband to the Samaritan?", "How many might she have in marriage?", "Yet heard I never tellen in mine age", "Upon this number definitioun.", "Men may divine, and glosen up and down;", "But well I wot, express without a lie,", "God bade us for to wax and multiply;", "That gentle text can I well understand.", "Eke well I wot, he said, that mine husband", "Should leave father and mother, and take to me;", "But of no number mention made he,", "Of bigamy or of octogamy;", "Why then should men speak of it villainy?", "", "Lo here, the wise king Dan Solomon,", "I trow that he had wives more than one;", "As would to God it lawful were to me", "To be refreshed half so oft as he!", "What gift of God had he for all his wives?", "No man hath such, that in this world alive is.", "God wot, this noble king, as to my wit,", "The first night had many a merry fit", "With each of them, so well was him on live.", "Blessed be God that I have wedded five!", "Welcome the sixth whenever that he shall.", "For since I will not keep me chaste in all,", "When mine husband is from the world y-gone,", "Some Christian man shall wedde me anon.", "For then th' apostle saith that I am free", "To wed, a' God's half, where it liketh me.", "He saith, that to be wedded is no sin;", "Better is to be wedded than to brin.", "What recketh me though folk say villainy", "Of shrewed Lamech, and his bigamy?", "I wot well Abraham was a holy man,", "And Jacob eke, as far as ev'r I can.", "And each of them had wives more than two;", "And many another holy man also.", "Where can ye see, in any manner age,", "That highe God defended marriage", "By word express? I pray you tell it me;", "Or where commanded he virginity?", "I wot as well as you, it is no dread,", "Th' apostle, when he spake of maidenhead,", "He said, that precept thereof had he none:", "Men may counsel a woman to be one,", "But counseling is no commandement;", "He put it in our owen judgement.", "For, hadde God commanded maidenhead,", "Then had he damned wedding out of dread;", "And certes, if there were no seed y-sow,", "Virginity then whereof should it grow?", "Paul durste not commanden, at the least,", "A thing of which his Master gave no hest.", "The dart is set up for virginity;", "Catch whoso may, who runneth best let see.", "But this word is not ta'en of every wight,", "But there as God will give it of his might.", "I wot well that th' apostle was a maid,", "But natheless, although he wrote and said,", "He would that every wight were such as he,", "All is but counsel to virginity.", "And, since to be a wife he gave me leave", "Of indulgence, so is it no repreve", "To wedde me, if that my make should die,", "Without exception of bigamy;", "All were it good no woman for to touch", "(He meant as in his bed or in his couch),", "For peril is both fire and tow t'assemble", "Ye know what this example may resemble.", "This is all and some, he held virginity", "More profit than wedding in frailty:", "(Frailty clepe I, but if that he and she", "Would lead their lives all in chastity),", "I grant it well, I have of none envy", "Who maidenhead prefer to bigamy;", "It liketh them t' be clean in body and ghost;", "Of mine estate I will not make a boast.", "", "For, well ye know, a lord in his household", "Hath not every vessel all of gold;", "Some are of tree, and do their lord service.", "God calleth folk to him in sundry wise,", "And each one hath of God a proper gift,", "Some this, some that, as liketh him to shift.", "Virginity is great perfection,", "And continence eke with devotion:", "But Christ, that of perfection is the well,", "Bade not every wight he should go sell", "All that he had, and give it to the poor,", "And in such wise follow him and his lore:", "He spake to them that would live perfectly, --", "And, lordings, by your leave, that am not I;", "I will bestow the flower of mine age", "In th' acts and in the fruits of marriage.", "Tell me also, to what conclusion", "Were members made of generation,", "And of so perfect wise a wight y-wrought?", "Trust me right well, they were not made for nought.", "Glose whoso will, and say both up and down,", "That they were made for the purgatioun", "Of urine, and of other thinges smale,", "And eke to know a female from a male:", "And for none other cause? say ye no?", "Experience wot well it is not so.", "So that the clerkes be not with me wroth,", "I say this, that they were made for both,", "That is to say, for office, and for ease", "Of engendrure, there we God not displease.", "Why should men elles in their bookes set,", "That man shall yield unto his wife her debt?", "Now wherewith should he make his payement,", "If he us'd not his silly instrument?", "Then were they made upon a creature", "To purge urine, and eke for engendrure.", "But I say not that every wight is hold,", "That hath such harness as I to you told,", "To go and use them in engendrure;", "Then should men take of chastity no cure.", "Christ was a maid, and shapen as a man,", "And many a saint, since that this world began,", "Yet ever liv'd in perfect chastity.", "I will not vie with no virginity.", "Let them with bread of pured wheat be fed,", "And let us wives eat our barley bread.", "And yet with barley bread, Mark tell us can,", "Our Lord Jesus refreshed many a man.", "In such estate as God hath cleped us,", "I'll persevere, I am not precious,", "In wifehood I will use mine instrument", "As freely as my Maker hath it sent.", "If I be dangerous God give me sorrow;", "Mine husband shall it have, both eve and morrow,", "When that him list come forth and pay his debt.", "A husband will I have, I will no let,", "Which shall be both my debtor and my thrall,", "And have his tribulation withal", "Upon his flesh, while that I am his wife.", "I have the power during all my life", "Upon his proper body, and not he;", "Right thus th' apostle told it unto me,", "And bade our husbands for to love us well;", "All this sentence me liketh every deal.", "", "Up start the Pardoner, and that anon;", "\"Now, Dame,\" quoth he, \"by God and by Saint John,", "Ye are a noble preacher in this case.", "I was about to wed a wife, alas!", "What? should I bie it on my flesh so dear?", "Yet had I lever wed no wife this year.\"", "\"Abide,\" quoth she; \"my tale is not begun", "Nay, thou shalt drinken of another tun", "Ere that I go, shall savour worse than ale.", "And when that I have told thee forth my tale", "Of tribulation in marriage,", "Of which I am expert in all mine age,", "(This is to say, myself hath been the whip),", "Then mayest thou choose whether thou wilt sip", "Of thilke tunne, that I now shall broach.", "Beware of it, ere thou too nigh approach,", "For I shall tell examples more than ten:", "Whoso will not beware by other men,", "By him shall other men corrected be:", "These same wordes writeth Ptolemy;", "Read in his Almagest, and take it there.\"", "\"Dame, I would pray you, if your will it were,\"", "Saide this Pardoner, \"as ye began,", "Tell forth your tale, and spare for no man,", "And teach us younge men of your practique.\"", "\"Gladly,\" quoth she, \"since that it may you like.", "But that I pray to all this company,", "If that I speak after my fantasy,", "To take nought agrief what I may say;", "For mine intent is only for to play.", "", "Now, Sirs, then will I tell you forth my tale.", "As ever may I drinke wine or ale", "I shall say sooth; the husbands that I had", "Three of them were good, and two were bad", "The three were goode men, and rich, and old", "Unnethes mighte they the statute hold", "In which that they were bounden unto me.", "Yet wot well what I mean of this, pardie.", "As God me help, I laugh when that I think", "How piteously at night I made them swink,", "But, by my fay, I told of it no store:", "They had me giv'n their land and their treasor,", "Me needed not do longer diligence", "To win their love, or do them reverence.", "They loved me so well, by God above,", "That I tolde no dainty of their love.", "A wise woman will busy her ever-in-one", "To get their love, where that she hath none.", "But, since I had them wholly in my hand,", "And that they had me given all their land,", "Why should I take keep them for to please,", "But it were for my profit, or mine ease?", "I set them so a-worke, by my fay,", "That many a night they sange, well-away!", "The bacon was not fetched for them, I trow,", "That some men have in Essex at Dunmow.", "I govern'd them so well after my law,", "That each of them full blissful was and fawe", "To bringe me gay thinges from the fair.", "They were full glad when that I spake them fair,", "For, God it wot, I chid them spiteously.", "Now hearken how I bare me properly.", "", "Ye wise wives, that can understand,", "Thus should ye speak, and bear them wrong on hand,", "For half so boldely can there no man", "Swearen and lien as a woman can.", "(I say not this by wives that be wise,", "But if it be when they them misadvise.)", "A wise wife, if that she can her good,", "Shall beare them on hand the cow is wood,", "And take witness of her owen maid", "Of their assent: but hearken how I said.", "\"Sir olde kaynard, is this thine array?", "Why is my neigheboure's wife so gay?", "She is honour'd over all where she go'th,", "I sit at home, I have no thrifty cloth.", "What dost thou at my neigheboure's house?", "Is she so fair? art thou so amorous?", "What rown'st thou with our maid? benedicite,", "Sir olde lechour, let thy japes be.", "And if I have a gossip, or a friend", "(Withoute guilt), thou chidest as a fiend,", "If that I walk or play unto his house.", "Thou comest home as drunken as a mouse,", "And preachest on thy bench, with evil prefe:", "Thou say'st to me, it is a great mischief", "To wed a poore woman, for costage:", "And if that she be rich, of high parage;", "Then say'st thou, that it is a tormentry", "To suffer her pride and melancholy.", "And if that she be fair, thou very knave,", "Thou say'st that every holour will her have;", "She may no while in chastity abide,", "That is assailed upon every side.", "Thou say'st some folk desire us for richess,", "Some for our shape, and some for our fairness,", "And some, for she can either sing or dance,", "And some for gentiless and dalliance,", "Some for her handes and her armes smale:", "Thus goes all to the devil, by thy tale;", "Thou say'st, men may not keep a castle wall", "That may be so assailed over all.", "And if that she be foul, thou say'st that she", "Coveteth every man that she may see;", "For as a spaniel she will on him leap,", "Till she may finde some man her to cheap;", "And none so grey goose goes there in the lake,", "(So say'st thou) that will be without a make.", "And say'st, it is a hard thing for to weld", "A thing that no man will, his thankes, held.", "Thus say'st thou, lorel, when thou go'st to bed,", "And that no wise man needeth for to wed,", "Nor no man that intendeth unto heaven.", "With wilde thunder dint and fiery leven", "Mote thy wicked necke be to-broke.", "Thou say'st, that dropping houses, and eke smoke,", "And chiding wives, make men to flee", "Out of their owne house; ah! ben'dicite,", "What aileth such an old man for to chide?", "Thou say'st, we wives will our vices hide,", "Till we be fast, and then we will them shew.", "Well may that be a proverb of a shrew.", "Thou say'st, that oxen, asses, horses, hounds,", "They be assayed at diverse stounds,", "Basons and lavers, ere that men them buy,", "Spoones, stooles, and all such husbandry,", "And so be pots, and clothes, and array,", "But folk of wives make none assay,", "Till they be wedded, -- olde dotard shrew! --", "And then, say'st thou, we will our vices shew.", "Thou say'st also, that it displeaseth me,", "But if that thou wilt praise my beauty,", "And but thou pore alway upon my face,", "And call me faire dame in every place;", "And but thou make a feast on thilke day", "That I was born, and make me fresh and gay;", "And but thou do to my norice honour,", "And to my chamberere within my bow'r,", "And to my father's folk, and mine allies;", "Thus sayest thou, old barrel full of lies.", "And yet also of our prentice Jenkin,", "For his crisp hair, shining as gold so fine,", "And for he squireth me both up and down,", "Yet hast thou caught a false suspicioun:", "I will him not, though thou wert dead to-morrow.", "But tell me this, why hidest thou, with sorrow,", "The keyes of thy chest away from me?", "It is my good as well as thine, pardie.", "What, think'st to make an idiot of our dame?", "Now, by that lord that called is Saint Jame,", "Thou shalt not both, although that thou wert wood,", "Be master of my body, and my good,", "The one thou shalt forego, maugre thine eyen.", "What helpeth it of me t'inquire and spyen?", "I trow thou wouldest lock me in thy chest.", "Thou shouldest say, 'Fair wife, go where thee lest;", "Take your disport; I will believe no tales;", "I know you for a true wife, Dame Ales.'", "We love no man, that taketh keep or charge", "Where that we go; we will be at our large.", "Of alle men most blessed may he be,", "The wise astrologer Dan Ptolemy,", "That saith this proverb in his Almagest:", "'Of alle men his wisdom is highest,", "That recketh not who hath the world in hand.", "By this proverb thou shalt well understand,", "Have thou enough, what thar thee reck or care", "How merrily that other folkes fare?", "For certes, olde dotard, by your leave,", "Ye shall have [pleasure] right enough at eve.", "He is too great a niggard that will werne", "A man to light a candle at his lantern;", "He shall have never the less light, pardie.", "Have thou enough, thee thar not plaine thee", "Thou say'st also, if that we make us gay", "With clothing and with precious array,", "That it is peril of our chastity.", "And yet, -- with sorrow! -- thou enforcest thee,", "And say'st these words in the apostle's name:", "'In habit made with chastity and shame", "Ye women shall apparel you,' quoth he,", "'And not in tressed hair and gay perrie,", "As pearles, nor with gold, nor clothes rich.'", "After thy text nor after thy rubrich", "I will not work as muchel as a gnat.", "Thou say'st also, I walk out like a cat;", "For whoso woulde singe the catte's skin", "Then will the catte well dwell in her inn;", "And if the catte's skin be sleek and gay,", "She will not dwell in house half a day,", "But forth she will, ere any day be daw'd,", "To shew her skin, and go a caterwaw'd.", "This is to say, if I be gay, sir shrew,", "I will run out, my borel for to shew.", "Sir olde fool, what helpeth thee to spyen?", "Though thou pray Argus with his hundred eyen", "To be my wardecorps, as he can best", "In faith he shall not keep me, but me lest:", "Yet could I make his beard, so may I the.", "", "\"Thou sayest eke, that there be thinges three,", "Which thinges greatly trouble all this earth,", "And that no wighte may endure the ferth:", "O lefe sir shrew, may Jesus short thy life.", "Yet preachest thou, and say'st, a hateful wife", "Y-reckon'd is for one of these mischances.", "Be there none other manner resemblances", "That ye may liken your parables unto,", "But if a silly wife be one of tho?", "Thou likenest a woman's love to hell;", "To barren land where water may not dwell.", "Thou likenest it also to wild fire;", "The more it burns, the more it hath desire", "To consume every thing that burnt will be.", "Thou sayest, right as wormes shend a tree,", "Right so a wife destroyeth her husbond;", "This know they well that be to wives bond.\"", "", "Lordings, right thus, as ye have understand,", "Bare I stiffly mine old husbands on hand,", "That thus they saiden in their drunkenness;", "And all was false, but that I took witness", "On Jenkin, and upon my niece also.", "O Lord! the pain I did them, and the woe,", "'Full guilteless, by Godde's sweete pine;", "For as a horse I coulde bite and whine;", "I coulde plain, an' I was in the guilt,", "Or elles oftentime I had been spilt", "Whoso first cometh to the nilll, first grint;", "I plained first, so was our war y-stint.", "They were full glad to excuse them full blive", "Of things that they never aguilt their live.", "", "Of wenches would I beare them on hand,", "When that for sickness scarcely might they stand,", "Yet tickled I his hearte for that he", "Ween'd that I had of him so great cherte:", "I swore that all my walking out by night", "Was for to espy wenches that he dight:", "Under that colour had I many a mirth.", "For all such wit is given us at birth;", "Deceit, weeping, and spinning, God doth give", "To women kindly, while that they may live.", "And thus of one thing I may vaunte me,", "At th' end I had the better in each degree,", "By sleight, or force, or by some manner thing,", "As by continual murmur or grudging,", "Namely a-bed, there hadde they mischance,", "There would I chide, and do them no pleasance:", "I would no longer in the bed abide,", "If that I felt his arm over my side,", "Till he had made his ransom unto me,", "Then would I suffer him do his nicety.", "And therefore every man this tale I tell,", "Win whoso may, for all is for to sell;", "With empty hand men may no hawkes lure;", "For winning would I all his will endure,", "And make me a feigned appetite,", "And yet in bacon had I never delight:", "That made me that I ever would them chide.", "For, though the Pope had sitten them beside,", "I would not spare them at their owen board,", "For, by my troth, I quit them word for word", "As help me very God omnipotent,", "Though I right now should make my testament", "I owe them not a word, that is not quit", "I brought it so aboute by my wit,", "That they must give it up, as for the best", "Or elles had we never been in rest.", "For, though he looked as a wood lion,", "Yet should he fail of his conclusion.", "Then would I say, \"Now, goode lefe tak keep", "How meekly looketh Wilken oure sheep!", "Come near, my spouse, and let me ba thy cheek", "Ye shoulde be all patient and meek,", "And have a sweet y-spiced conscience,", "Since ye so preach of Jobe's patience.", "Suffer alway, since ye so well can preach,", "And but ye do, certain we shall you teach", "That it is fair to have a wife in peace.", "One of us two must bowe doubteless:", "And since a man is more reasonable", "Than woman is, ye must be suff'rable.", "What aileth you to grudge thus and groan?", "Is it for ye would have my [love] alone?", "Why, take it all: lo, have it every deal,", "Peter! shrew you but ye love it well", "For if I woulde sell my belle chose,", "I coulde walk as fresh as is a rose,", "But I will keep it for your owen tooth.", "Ye be to blame, by God, I say you sooth.\"", "Such manner wordes hadde we on hand.", "", "Now will I speaken of my fourth husband.", "My fourthe husband was a revellour;", "This is to say, he had a paramour,", "And I was young and full of ragerie,", "Stubborn and strong, and jolly as a pie.", "Then could I dance to a harpe smale,", "And sing, y-wis, as any nightingale,", "When I had drunk a draught of sweete wine.", "Metellius, the foule churl, the swine,", "That with a staff bereft his wife of life", "For she drank wine, though I had been his wife,", "Never should he have daunted me from drink:", "And, after wine, of Venus most I think.", "For all so sure as cold engenders hail,", "A liquorish mouth must have a liquorish tail.", "In woman vinolent is no defence,", "This knowe lechours by experience.", "But, lord Christ, when that it rememb'reth me", "Upon my youth, and on my jollity,", "It tickleth me about mine hearte-root;", "Unto this day it doth mine hearte boot,", "That I have had my world as in my time.", "But age, alas! that all will envenime,", "Hath me bereft my beauty and my pith:", "Let go; farewell; the devil go therewith.", "The flour is gon, there is no more to tell,", "The bran, as I best may, now must I sell.", "But yet to be right merry will I fand.", "Now forth to tell you of my fourth husband,", "I say, I in my heart had great despite,", "That he of any other had delight;", "But he was quit, by God and by Saint Joce:", "I made for him of the same wood a cross;", "Not of my body in no foul mannere,", "But certainly I made folk such cheer,", "That in his owen grease I made him fry", "For anger, and for very jealousy.", "By God, in earth I was his purgatory,", "For which I hope his soul may be in glory.", "For, God it wot, he sat full oft and sung,", "When that his shoe full bitterly him wrung.", "There was no wight, save God and he, that wist", "In many wise how sore I did him twist.", "He died when I came from Jerusalem,", "And lies in grave under the roode beam:", "Although his tomb is not so curious", "As was the sepulchre of Darius,", "Which that Apelles wrought so subtlely.", "It is but waste to bury them preciously.", "Let him fare well, God give his soule rest,", "He is now in his grave and in his chest.", "", "Now of my fifthe husband will I tell:", "God let his soul never come into hell.", "And yet was he to me the moste shrew;", "That feel I on my ribbes all by rew,", "And ever shall, until mine ending day.", "But in our bed he was so fresh and gay,", "And therewithal so well he could me glose,", "When that he woulde have my belle chose,", "Though he had beaten me on every bone,", "Yet could he win again my love anon.", "I trow, I lov'd him better, for that he", "Was of his love so dangerous to me.", "We women have, if that I shall not lie,", "In this matter a quainte fantasy.", "Whatever thing we may not lightly have,", "Thereafter will we cry all day and crave.", "Forbid us thing, and that desire we;", "Press on us fast, and thenne will we flee.", "With danger utter we all our chaffare;", "Great press at market maketh deare ware,", "And too great cheap is held at little price;", "This knoweth every woman that is wise.", "My fifthe husband, God his soule bless,", "Which that I took for love and no richess,", "He some time was a clerk of Oxenford,", "And had left school, and went at home to board", "With my gossip, dwelling in oure town:", "God have her soul, her name was Alisoun.", "She knew my heart, and all my privity,", "Bet than our parish priest, so may I the.", "To her betrayed I my counsel all;", "For had my husband pissed on a wall,", "Or done a thing that should have cost his life,", "To her, and to another worthy wife,", "And to my niece, which that I loved well,", "I would have told his counsel every deal.", "And so I did full often, God it wot,", "That made his face full often red and hot", "For very shame, and blam'd himself, for he", "Had told to me so great a privity.", "And so befell that ones in a Lent", "(So oftentimes I to my gossip went,", "For ever yet I loved to be gay,", "And for to walk in March, April, and May", "From house to house, to heare sundry tales),", "That Jenkin clerk, and my gossip, Dame Ales,", "And I myself, into the fieldes went.", "Mine husband was at London all that Lent;", "I had the better leisure for to play,", "And for to see, and eke for to be sey", "Of lusty folk; what wist I where my grace", "Was shapen for to be, or in what place?", "Therefore made I my visitations", "To vigilies, and to processions,", "To preachings eke, and to these pilgrimages,", "To plays of miracles, and marriages,", "And weared upon me gay scarlet gites.", "These wormes, nor these mothes, nor these mites", "On my apparel frett them never a deal", "And know'st thou why? for they were used well.", "Now will I telle forth what happen'd me:", "I say, that in the fieldes walked we,", "Till truely we had such dalliance,", "This clerk and I, that of my purveyance", "I spake to him, and told him how that he,", "If I were widow, shoulde wedde me.", "For certainly, I say for no bobance,", "Yet was I never without purveyance", "Of marriage, nor of other thinges eke:", "I hold a mouse's wit not worth a leek,", "That hath but one hole for to starte to,", "And if that faile, then is all y-do.", "[I bare him on hand he had enchanted me", "(My dame taughte me that subtilty);", "And eke I said, I mette of him all night,", "He would have slain me, as I lay upright,", "And all my bed was full of very blood;", "But yet I hop'd that he should do me good;", "For blood betoken'd gold, as me was taught.", "And all was false, I dream'd of him right naught,", "But as I follow'd aye my dame's lore,", "As well of that as of other things more.]", "But now, sir, let me see, what shall I sayn?", "Aha! by God, I have my tale again.", "When that my fourthe husband was on bier,", "I wept algate and made a sorry cheer,", "As wives must, for it is the usage;", "And with my kerchief covered my visage;", "But, for I was provided with a make,", "I wept but little, that I undertake", "To churche was mine husband borne a-morrow", "With neighebours that for him made sorrow,", "And Jenkin, oure clerk, was one of tho:", "As help me God, when that I saw him go", "After the bier, methought he had a pair", "Of legges and of feet so clean and fair,", "That all my heart I gave unto his hold.", "He was, I trow, a twenty winter old,", "And I was forty, if I shall say sooth,", "But yet I had always a colte's tooth.", "Gat-toothed I was, and that became me well,", "I had the print of Sainte Venus' seal.", "[As help me God, I was a lusty one,", "And fair, and rich, and young, and well begone:", "For certes I am all venerian", "In feeling, and my heart is martian;", "Venus me gave my lust and liquorishness,", "And Mars gave me my sturdy hardiness.]", "Mine ascendant was Taure, and Mars therein:", "Alas, alas, that ever love was sin!", "I follow'd aye mine inclination", "By virtue of my constellation:", "That made me that I coulde not withdraw", "My chamber of Venus from a good fellaw.", "[Yet have I Marte's mark upon my face,", "And also in another privy place.", "For God so wisly be my salvation,", "I loved never by discretion,", "But ever follow'd mine own appetite,", "All were he short, or long, or black, or white,", "I took no keep, so that he liked me,", "How poor he was, neither of what degree.]", "What should I say? but that at the month's end", "This jolly clerk Jenkin, that was so hend,", "Had wedded me with great solemnity,", "And to him gave I all the land and fee", "That ever was me given therebefore:", "But afterward repented me full sore.", "He woulde suffer nothing of my list.", "By God, he smote me ones with his fist,", "For that I rent out of his book a leaf,", "That of the stroke mine eare wax'd all deaf.", "Stubborn I was, as is a lioness,", "And of my tongue a very jangleress,", "And walk I would, as I had done beforn,", "From house to house, although he had it sworn:", "For which he oftentimes woulde preach", "And me of olde Roman gestes teach", "How that Sulpitius Gallus left his wife", "And her forsook for term of all his", "For nought but open-headed he her say", "Looking out at his door upon a day.", "Another Roman told he me by name,", "That, for his wife was at a summer game", "Without his knowing, he forsook her eke.", "And then would he upon his Bible seek", "That ilke proverb of Ecclesiast,", "Where he commandeth, and forbiddeth fast,", "Man shall not suffer his wife go roll about.", "Then would he say right thus withoute doubt:", "\"Whoso that buildeth his house all of sallows,", "And pricketh his blind horse over the fallows,", "And suff'reth his wife to go seeke hallows,", "Is worthy to be hanged on the gallows.\"", "But all for nought; I sette not a haw", "Of his proverbs, nor of his olde saw;", "Nor would I not of him corrected be.", "I hate them that my vices telle me,", "And so do more of us (God wot) than I.", "This made him wood with me all utterly;", "I woulde not forbear him in no case.", "Now will I say you sooth, by Saint Thomas,", "Why that I rent out of his book a leaf,", "For which he smote me, so that I was deaf.", "He had a book, that gladly night and day", "For his disport he would it read alway;", "He call'd it Valerie, and Theophrast,", "And with that book he laugh'd alway full fast.", "And eke there was a clerk sometime at Rome,", "A cardinal, that highte Saint Jerome,", "That made a book against Jovinian,", "Which book was there; and eke Tertullian,", "Chrysippus, Trotula, and Heloise,", "That was an abbess not far from Paris;", "And eke the Parables of Solomon,", "Ovide's Art, and bourdes many one;", "And alle these were bound in one volume.", "And every night and day was his custume", "(When he had leisure and vacation", "From other worldly occupation)", "To readen in this book of wicked wives.", "He knew of them more legends and more lives", "Than be of goodde wives in the Bible.", "For, trust me well, it is an impossible", "That any clerk will speake good of wives,", "(But if it be of holy saintes' lives)", "Nor of none other woman never the mo'.", "Who painted the lion, tell it me, who?", "By God, if women haddde written stories,", "As clerkes have within their oratories,", "They would have writ of men more wickedness", "Than all the mark of Adam may redress", "The children of Mercury and of Venus,", "Be in their working full contrarious.", "Mercury loveth wisdom and science,", "And Venus loveth riot and dispence.", "And for their diverse disposition,", "Each falls in other's exaltation.", "As thus, God wot, Mercury is desolate", "In Pisces, where Venus is exaltate,", "And Venus falls where Mercury is raised.", "Therefore no woman by no clerk is praised.", "The clerk, when he is old, and may not do", "Of Venus' works not worth his olde shoe,", "Then sits he down, and writes in his dotage,", "That women cannot keep their marriage.", "But now to purpose, why I tolde thee", "That I was beaten for a book, pardie.", "", "Upon a night Jenkin, that was our sire,", "Read on his book, as he sat by the fire,", "Of Eva first, that for her wickedness", "Was all mankind brought into wretchedness,", "For which that Jesus Christ himself was slain,", "That bought us with his hearte-blood again.", "Lo here express of women may ye find", "That woman was the loss of all mankind.", "Then read he me how Samson lost his hairs", "Sleeping, his leman cut them with her shears,", "Through whiche treason lost he both his eyen.", "Then read he me, if that I shall not lien,", "Of Hercules, and of his Dejanire,", "That caused him to set himself on fire.", "Nothing forgot he of the care and woe", "That Socrates had with his wives two;", "How Xantippe cast piss upon his head.", "This silly man sat still, as he were dead,", "He wip'd his head, and no more durst he sayn,", "But, \"Ere the thunder stint there cometh rain.\"", "Of Phasiphae, that was queen of Crete,", "For shrewedness he thought the tale sweet.", "Fy, speak no more, it is a grisly thing,", "Of her horrible lust and her liking.", "Of Clytemnestra, for her lechery", "That falsely made her husband for to die,", "He read it with full good devotion.", "He told me eke, for what occasion", "Amphiorax at Thebes lost his life:", "My husband had a legend of his wife", "Eryphile, that for an ouche of gold", "Had privily unto the Greekes told,", "Where that her husband hid him in a place,", "For which he had at Thebes sorry grace.", "Of Luna told he me, and of Lucie;", "They bothe made their husbands for to die,", "That one for love, that other was for hate.", "Luna her husband on an ev'ning late", "Empoison'd had, for that she was his foe:", "Lucia liquorish lov'd her husband so,", "That, for he should always upon her think,", "She gave him such a manner love-drink,", "That he was dead before it were the morrow:", "And thus algates husbands hadde sorrow.", "Then told he me how one Latumeus", "Complained to his fellow Arius", "That in his garden growed such a tree,", "On which he said how that his wives three", "Hanged themselves for heart dispiteous.", "\"O leve brother,\" quoth this Arius,", "\"Give me a plant of thilke blessed tree,", "And in my garden planted shall it be.\"", "Of later date of wives hath he read,", "That some have slain their husbands in their bed,", "And let their lechour dight them all the night,", "While that the corpse lay on the floor upright:", "And some have driven nails into their brain,", "While that they slept, and thus they have them slain:", "Some have them given poison in their drink:", "He spake more harm than hearte may bethink.", "And therewithal he knew of more proverbs,", "Than in this world there groweth grass or herbs.", "\"Better (quoth he) thine habitation", "Be with a lion, or a foul dragon,", "Than with a woman using for to chide.", "Better (quoth he) high in the roof abide,", "Than with an angry woman in the house,", "They be so wicked and contrarious:", "They hate that their husbands loven aye.\"", "He said, \"A woman cast her shame away", "When she cast off her smock;\" and farthermo',", "\"A fair woman, but she be chaste also,", "Is like a gold ring in a sowe's nose.", "Who coulde ween, or who coulde suppose", "The woe that in mine heart was, and the pine?", "And when I saw that he would never fine", "To readen on this cursed book all night,", "All suddenly three leaves have I plight", "Out of his book, right as he read, and eke", "I with my fist so took him on the cheek,", "That in our fire he backward fell adown.", "And he up start, as doth a wood lion,", "And with his fist he smote me on the head,", "That on the floor I lay as I were dead.", "And when he saw how still that there I lay,", "He was aghast, and would have fled away,", "Till at the last out of my swoon I braid,", "\"Oh, hast thou slain me, thou false thief?\" I said", "\"And for my land thus hast thou murder'd me?", "Ere I be dead, yet will I kisse thee.\"", "And near he came, and kneeled fair adown,", "And saide\", \"Deare sister Alisoun,", "As help me God, I shall thee never smite:", "That I have done it is thyself to wite,", "Forgive it me, and that I thee beseek.\"", "And yet eftsoons I hit him on the cheek,", "And saidde, \"Thief, thus much am I awreak.", "Now will I die, I may no longer speak.\"", "", "But at the last, with muche care and woe", "We fell accorded by ourselves two:", "He gave me all the bridle in mine hand", "To have the governance of house and land,", "And of his tongue, and of his hand also.", "I made him burn his book anon right tho.", "And when that I had gotten unto me", "By mast'ry all the sovereignety,", "And that he said, \"Mine owen true wife,", "Do as thee list, the term of all thy life,", "Keep thine honour, and eke keep mine estate;", "After that day we never had debate.", "God help me so, I was to him as kind", "As any wife from Denmark unto Ind,", "And also true, and so was he to me:", "I pray to God that sits in majesty", "So bless his soule, for his mercy dear.", "Now will I say my tale, if ye will hear. --", "", "The Friar laugh'd when he had heard all this:", "\"Now, Dame,\" quoth he, \"so have I joy and bliss,", "This is a long preamble of a tale.\"", "And when the Sompnour heard the Friar gale,", "\"Lo,\" quoth this Sompnour, \"Godde's armes two,", "A friar will intermete him evermo':", "Lo, goode men, a fly and eke a frere", "Will fall in ev'ry dish and eke mattere.", "What speak'st thou of perambulation?", "What? amble or trot; or peace, or go sit down:", "Thou lettest our disport in this mattere.\"", "\"Yea, wilt thou so, Sir Sompnour?\" quoth the Frere;", "\"Now by my faith I shall, ere that I go,", "Tell of a Sompnour such a tale or two,", "That all the folk shall laughen in this place.\"", "\"Now do, else, Friar, I beshrew thy face,\"", "Quoth this Sompnour; \"and I beshrewe me,", "But if I telle tales two or three", "Of friars, ere I come to Sittingbourne,", "That I shall make thine hearte for to mourn:", "For well I wot thy patience is gone.\"", "Our Hoste cried, \"Peace, and that anon;\"", "And saide, \"Let the woman tell her tale.", "Ye fare as folk that drunken be of ale.", "Do, Dame, tell forth your tale, and that is best.\"", "\"All ready, sir,\" quoth she, \"right as you lest,", "If I have licence of this worthy Frere.\"", "\"Yes, Dame,\" quoth he, \"tell forth, and I will hear.\"", "", "THE TALE.", "", "In olde dayes of the king Arthour,", "Of which that Britons speake great honour,", "All was this land full fill'd of faerie;", "The Elf-queen, with her jolly company,", "Danced full oft in many a green mead", "This was the old opinion, as I read;", "I speak of many hundred years ago;", "But now can no man see none elves mo',", "For now the great charity and prayeres", "Of limitours, and other holy freres,", "That search every land and ev'ry stream", "As thick as motes in the sunne-beam,", "Blessing halls, chambers, kitchenes, and bowers,", "Cities and burghes, castles high and towers,", "Thorpes and barnes, shepens and dairies,", "This makes that there be now no faeries:", "For there as wont to walke was an elf,", "There walketh now the limitour himself,", "In undermeles and in morrowings,", "And saith his matins and his holy things,", "As he goes in his limitatioun.", "Women may now go safely up and down,", "In every bush, and under every tree;", "There is none other incubus but he;", "And he will do to them no dishonour.", "", "And so befell it, that this king Arthour", "Had in his house a lusty bacheler,", "That on a day came riding from river:", "And happen'd, that, alone as she was born,", "He saw a maiden walking him beforn,", "Of which maiden anon, maugre her head,", "By very force he reft her maidenhead:", "For which oppression was such clamour,", "And such pursuit unto the king Arthour,", "That damned was this knight for to be dead", "By course of law, and should have lost his head;", "(Paraventure such was the statute tho),", "But that the queen and other ladies mo'", "So long they prayed the king of his grace,", "Till he his life him granted in the place,", "And gave him to the queen, all at her will", "To choose whether she would him save or spill", "The queen thanked the king with all her might;", "And, after this, thus spake she to the knight,", "When that she saw her time upon a day.", "\"Thou standest yet,\" quoth she, \"in such array,", "That of thy life yet hast thou no surety;", "I grant thee life, if thou canst tell to me", "What thing is it that women most desiren:", "Beware, and keep thy neck-bone from the iron", "And if thou canst not tell it me anon,", "Yet will I give thee leave for to gon", "A twelvemonth and a day, to seek and lear", "An answer suffisant in this mattere.", "And surety will I have, ere that thou pace,", "Thy body for to yielden in this place.\"", "Woe was the knight, and sorrowfully siked;", "But what? he might not do all as him liked.", "And at the last he chose him for to wend,", "And come again, right at the yeare's end,", "With such answer as God would him purvey:", "And took his leave, and wended forth his way.", "", "He sought in ev'ry house and ev'ry place,", "Where as he hoped for to finde grace,", "To learne what thing women love the most:", "But he could not arrive in any coast,", "Where as he mighte find in this mattere", "Two creatures according in fere.", "Some said that women loved best richess,", "Some said honour, and some said jolliness,", "Some rich array, and some said lust a-bed,", "And oft time to be widow and be wed.", "Some said, that we are in our heart most eased", "When that we are y-flatter'd and y-praised.", "He went full nigh the sooth, I will not lie;", "A man shall win us best with flattery;", "And with attendance, and with business", "Be we y-limed, bothe more and less.", "And some men said that we do love the best", "For to be free, and do right as us lest,", "And that no man reprove us of our vice,", "But say that we are wise, and nothing nice,", "For truly there is none among us all,", "If any wight will claw us on the gall,", "That will not kick, for that he saith us sooth:", "Assay, and he shall find it, that so do'th.", "For be we never so vicious within,", "We will be held both wise and clean of sin.", "And some men said, that great delight have we", "For to be held stable and eke secre,", "And in one purpose steadfastly to dwell,", "And not bewray a thing that men us tell.", "But that tale is not worth a rake-stele.", "Pardie, we women canne nothing hele,", "Witness on Midas; will ye hear the tale?", "Ovid, amonges other thinges smale", "Saith, Midas had, under his longe hairs,", "Growing upon his head two ass's ears;", "The whiche vice he hid, as best he might,", "Full subtlely from every man's sight,", "That, save his wife, there knew of it no mo';", "He lov'd her most, and trusted her also;", "He prayed her, that to no creature", "She woulde tellen of his disfigure.", "She swore him, nay, for all the world to win,", "She would not do that villainy or sin,", "To make her husband have so foul a name:", "She would not tell it for her owen shame.", "But natheless her thoughte that she died,", "That she so longe should a counsel hide;", "Her thought it swell'd so sore about her heart", "That needes must some word from her astart", "And, since she durst not tell it unto man", "Down to a marish fast thereby she ran,", "Till she came there, her heart was all afire:", "And, as a bittern bumbles in the mire,", "She laid her mouth unto the water down", "\"Bewray me not, thou water, with thy soun'\"", "Quoth she, \"to thee I tell it, and no mo',", "Mine husband hath long ass's eares two!", "Now is mine heart all whole; now is it out;", "I might no longer keep it, out of doubt.\"", "Here may ye see, though we a time abide,", "Yet out it must, we can no counsel hide.", "The remnant of the tale, if ye will hear,", "Read in Ovid, and there ye may it lear.", "", "This knight, of whom my tale is specially,", "When that he saw he might not come thereby,", "That is to say, what women love the most,", "Within his breast full sorrowful was his ghost.", "But home he went, for he might not sojourn,", "The day was come, that homeward he must turn.", "And in his way it happen'd him to ride,", "In all his care, under a forest side,", "Where as he saw upon a dance go", "Of ladies four-and-twenty, and yet mo',", "Toward this ilke dance he drew full yern,", "The hope that he some wisdom there should learn;", "But certainly, ere he came fully there,", "Y-vanish'd was this dance, he knew not where;", "No creature saw he that bare life,", "Save on the green he sitting saw a wife,", "A fouler wight there may no man devise.", "Against this knight this old wife gan to rise,", "And said, \"Sir Knight, hereforth lieth no way.", "Tell me what ye are seeking, by your fay.", "Paraventure it may the better be:", "These olde folk know muche thing.\" quoth she.", "My leve mother,\" quoth this knight, \"certain,", "I am but dead, but if that I can sayn", "What thing it is that women most desire:", "Could ye me wiss, I would well quite your hire.\"", "\"Plight me thy troth here in mine hand,\" quoth she,", "\"The nexte thing that I require of thee", "Thou shalt it do, if it be in thy might,", "And I will tell it thee ere it be night.\"", "\"Have here my trothe,\" quoth the knight; \"I grant.\"", "\"Thenne,\" quoth she, \"I dare me well avaunt,", "Thy life is safe, for I will stand thereby,", "Upon my life the queen will say as I:", "Let see, which is the proudest of them all,", "That wears either a kerchief or a caul,", "That dare say nay to that I shall you teach.", "Let us go forth withoute longer speech", "Then rowned she a pistel in his ear,", "And bade him to be glad, and have no fear.", "", "When they were come unto the court, this knight", "Said, he had held his day, as he had hight,", "And ready was his answer, as he said.", "Full many a noble wife, and many a maid,", "And many a widow, for that they be wise, --", "The queen herself sitting as a justice, --", "Assembled be, his answer for to hear,", "And afterward this knight was bid appear.", "To every wight commanded was silence,", "And that the knight should tell in audience,", "What thing that worldly women love the best.", "This knight he stood not still, as doth a beast,", "But to this question anon answer'd", "With manly voice, that all the court it heard,", "\"My liege lady, generally,\" quoth he,", "\"Women desire to have the sovereignty", "As well over their husband as their love", "And for to be in mast'ry him above.", "This is your most desire, though ye me kill,", "Do as you list, I am here at your will.\"", "In all the court there was no wife nor maid", "Nor widow, that contraried what he said,", "But said, he worthy was to have his life.", "And with that word up start that olde wife", "Which that the knight saw sitting on the green.", "", "\"Mercy,\" quoth she, \"my sovereign lady queen,", "Ere that your court departe, do me right.", "I taughte this answer unto this knight,", "For which he plighted me his trothe there,", "The firste thing I would of him requere,", "He would it do, if it lay in his might.", "Before this court then pray I thee, Sir Knight,\"", "Quoth she, \"that thou me take unto thy wife,", "For well thou know'st that I have kept thy life.", "If I say false, say nay, upon thy fay.\"", "This knight answer'd, \"Alas, and well-away!", "I know right well that such was my behest.", "For Godde's love choose a new request", "Take all my good, and let my body go.\"", "\"Nay, then,\" quoth she, \"I shrew us bothe two,", "For though that I be old, and foul, and poor,", "I n'ould for all the metal nor the ore,", "That under earth is grave, or lies above", "But if thy wife I were and eke thy love.\"", "\"My love?\" quoth he, \"nay, my damnation,", "Alas! that any of my nation", "Should ever so foul disparaged be.", "But all for nought; the end is this, that he", "Constrained was, that needs he muste wed,", "And take this olde wife, and go to bed.", "", "Now woulde some men say paraventure", "That for my negligence I do no cure", "To tell you all the joy and all th' array", "That at the feast was made that ilke day.", "To which thing shortly answeren I shall:", "I say there was no joy nor feast at all,", "There was but heaviness and muche sorrow:", "For privily he wed her on the morrow;", "And all day after hid him as an owl,", "So woe was him, his wife look'd so foul", "Great was the woe the knight had in his thought", "When he was with his wife to bed y-brought;", "He wallow'd, and he turned to and fro.", "This olde wife lay smiling evermo',", "And said, \"Dear husband, benedicite,", "Fares every knight thus with his wife as ye?", "Is this the law of king Arthoures house?", "Is every knight of his thus dangerous?", "I am your owen love, and eke your wife", "I am she, which that saved hath your life", "And certes yet did I you ne'er unright.", "Why fare ye thus with me this firste night?", "Ye fare like a man had lost his wit.", "What is my guilt? for God's love tell me it,", "And it shall be amended, if I may.\"", "\"Amended!\" quoth this knight; \"alas, nay, nay,", "It will not be amended, never mo';", "Thou art so loathly, and so old also,", "And thereto comest of so low a kind,", "That little wonder though I wallow and wind;", "So woulde God, mine hearte woulde brest!\"", "\"Is this,\" quoth she, \"the cause of your unrest?\"", "\"Yea, certainly,\" quoth he; \"no wonder is.\"", "\"Now, Sir,\" quoth she, \"I could amend all this,", "If that me list, ere it were dayes three,", "So well ye mighte bear you unto me.", "But, for ye speaken of such gentleness", "As is descended out of old richess,", "That therefore shalle ye be gentlemen;", "Such arrogancy is not worth a hen.", "Look who that is most virtuous alway,", "Prive and apert, and most intendeth aye", "To do the gentle deedes that he can;", "And take him for the greatest gentleman.", "Christ will, we claim of him our gentleness,", "Not of our elders for their old richess.", "For though they gave us all their heritage,", "For which we claim to be of high parage,", "Yet may they not bequeathe, for no thing,", "To none of us, their virtuous living", "That made them gentlemen called to be,", "And bade us follow them in such degree.", "Well can the wise poet of Florence,", "That highte Dante, speak of this sentence:", "Lo, in such manner rhyme is Dante's tale.", "'Full seld' upriseth by his branches smale", "Prowess of man, for God of his goodness", "Wills that we claim of him our gentleness;'", "For of our elders may we nothing claim", "But temp'ral things that man may hurt and maim.", "Eke every wight knows this as well as I,", "If gentleness were planted naturally", "Unto a certain lineage down the line,", "Prive and apert, then would they never fine", "To do of gentleness the fair office", "Then might they do no villainy nor vice.", "Take fire, and bear it to the darkest house", "Betwixt this and the mount of Caucasus,", "And let men shut the doores, and go thenne,", "Yet will the fire as fair and lighte brenne", "As twenty thousand men might it behold;", "Its office natural aye will it hold,", "On peril of my life, till that it die.", "Here may ye see well how that gentery", "Is not annexed to possession,", "Since folk do not their operation", "Alway, as doth the fire, lo, in its kind", "For, God it wot, men may full often find", "A lorde's son do shame and villainy.", "And he that will have price of his gent'ry,", "For he was boren of a gentle house,", "And had his elders noble and virtuous,", "And will himselfe do no gentle deedes,", "Nor follow his gentle ancestry, that dead is,", "He is not gentle, be he duke or earl;", "For villain sinful deedes make a churl.", "For gentleness is but the renomee", "Of thine ancestors, for their high bounte,", "Which is a strange thing to thy person:", "Thy gentleness cometh from God alone.", "Then comes our very gentleness of grace;", "It was no thing bequeath'd us with our place.", "Think how noble, as saith Valerius,", "Was thilke Tullius Hostilius,", "That out of povert' rose to high", "Read in Senec, and read eke in Boece,", "There shall ye see express, that it no drede is,", "That he is gentle that doth gentle deedes.", "And therefore, leve husband, I conclude,", "Albeit that mine ancestors were rude,", "Yet may the highe God, -- and so hope I, --", "Grant me His grace to live virtuously:", "Then am I gentle when that I begin", "To live virtuously, and waive sin.", "", "\"And whereas ye of povert' me repreve,", "The highe God, on whom that we believe,", "In wilful povert' chose to lead his life:", "And certes, every man, maiden, or wife", "May understand that Jesus, heaven's king,", "Ne would not choose a virtuous living.", "Glad povert' is an honest thing, certain;", "This will Senec and other clerkes sayn", "Whoso that holds him paid of his povert',", "I hold him rich though he hath not a shirt.", "He that coveteth is a poore wight", "For he would have what is not in his might", "But he that nought hath, nor coveteth to have,", "Is rich, although ye hold him but a knave.", "Very povert' is sinne, properly.", "Juvenal saith of povert' merrily:", "The poore man, when he goes by the way", "Before the thieves he may sing and play", "Povert' is hateful good, and, as I guess,", "A full great bringer out of business;", "A great amender eke of sapience", "To him that taketh it in patience.", "Povert' is this, although it seem elenge", "Possession that no wight will challenge", "Povert' full often, when a man is low,", "Makes him his God and eke himself to know", "Povert' a spectacle is, as thinketh me", "Through which he may his very friendes see.", "And, therefore, Sir, since that I you not grieve,", "Of my povert' no more me repreve.", "\"Now, Sir, of elde ye repreve me:", "And certes, Sir, though none authority", "Were in no book, ye gentles of honour", "Say, that men should an olde wight honour,", "And call him father, for your gentleness;", "And authors shall I finden, as I guess.", "Now there ye say that I am foul and old,", "Then dread ye not to be a cokewold.", "For filth, and elde, all so may I the,", "Be greate wardens upon chastity.", "But natheless, since I know your delight,", "I shall fulfil your wordly appetite.", "Choose now,\" quoth she, \"one of these thinges tway,", "To have me foul and old till that I dey,", "And be to you a true humble wife,", "And never you displease in all my life:", "Or elles will ye have me young and fair,", "And take your aventure of the repair", "That shall be to your house because of me, --", "Or in some other place, it may well be?", "Now choose yourselfe whether that you liketh.", "", "This knight adviseth him and sore he siketh,", "But at the last he said in this mannere;", "\"My lady and my love, and wife so dear,", "I put me in your wise governance,", "Choose for yourself which may be most pleasance", "And most honour to you and me also;", "I do no force the whether of the two:", "For as you liketh, it sufficeth me.\"", "\"Then have I got the mastery,\" quoth she,", "\"Since I may choose and govern as me lest.\"", "\"Yea, certes wife,\" quoth he, \"I hold it best.\"", "\"Kiss me,\" quoth she, \"we are no longer wroth,", "For by my troth I will be to you both;", "This is to say, yea, bothe fair and good.", "I pray to God that I may sterve wood,", "But I to you be all so good and true,", "As ever was wife since the world was new;", "And but I be to-morrow as fair to seen,", "As any lady, emperess or queen,", "That is betwixt the East and eke the West", "Do with my life and death right as you lest.", "Cast up the curtain, and look how it is.\"", "", "And when the knight saw verily all this,", "That she so fair was, and so young thereto,", "For joy he hent her in his armes two:", "His hearte bathed in a bath of bliss,", "A thousand times on row he gan her kiss:", "And she obeyed him in every thing", "That mighte do him pleasance or liking.", "And thus they live unto their lives' end", "In perfect joy; and Jesus Christ us send", "Husbandes meek and young, and fresh in bed,", "And grace to overlive them that we wed.", "And eke I pray Jesus to short their lives,", "That will not be governed by their wives.", "And old and angry niggards of dispence,", "God send them soon a very pestilence!" ], "linecount": "1264" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Merchant's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "THE PROLOGUE.", "", "\"Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow,", "I have enough, on even and on morrow,\"", "Quoth the Merchant, \"and so have other mo',", "That wedded be; I trow that it be so;", "For well I wot it fareth so by me.", "I have a wife, the worste that may be,", "For though the fiend to her y-coupled were,", "She would him overmatch, I dare well swear.", "Why should I you rehearse in special", "Her high malice? she is a shrew at all.", "There is a long and large difference", "Betwixt Griselda's greate patience,", "And of my wife the passing cruelty.", "Were I unbounden, all so may I the,", "I woulde never eft come in the snare.", "We wedded men live in sorrow and care;", "Assay it whoso will, and he shall find", "That I say sooth, by Saint Thomas of Ind,", "As for the more part; I say not all, --", "God shielde that it shoulde so befall.", "Ah! good Sir Host, I have y-wedded be", "These moneths two, and more not, pardie;", "And yet I trow that he that all his life", "Wifeless hath been, though that men would him rive", "Into the hearte, could in no mannere", "Telle so much sorrow, as I you here", "Could tellen of my wife's cursedness.\"", "", "\"Now,\" quoth our Host, \"Merchant, so God you bless,", "Since ye so muche knowen of that art,", "Full heartily I pray you tell us part.\"", "\"Gladly,\" quoth he; \"but of mine owen sore,", "For sorry heart, I telle may no more.\"", "", "THE TALE.", "", "Whilom there was dwelling in Lombardy", "A worthy knight, that born was at Pavie,", "In which he liv'd in great prosperity;", "And forty years a wifeless man was he,", "And follow'd aye his bodily delight", "On women, where as was his appetite,", "As do these fooles that be seculeres.", "And, when that he was passed sixty years,", "Were it for holiness, or for dotage,", "I cannot say, but such a great corage", "Hadde this knight to be a wedded man,", "That day and night he did all that he can", "To espy where that he might wedded be;", "Praying our Lord to grante him, that he", "Mighte once knowen of that blissful life", "That is betwixt a husband and his wife,", "And for to live under that holy bond", "With which God firste man and woman bond.", "\"None other life,\" said he, \"is worth a bean;", "For wedlock is so easy, and so clean,", "That in this world it is a paradise.\"", "Thus said this olde knight, that was so wise.", "And certainly, as sooth as God is king,", "To take a wife it is a glorious thing,", "And namely when a man is old and hoar,", "Then is a wife the fruit of his treasor;", "Then should he take a young wife and a fair,", "On which he might engender him an heir,", "And lead his life in joy and in solace;", "Whereas these bachelors singen \"Alas!\"", "When that they find any adversity", "In love, which is but childish vanity.", "And truely it sits well to be so,", "That bachelors have often pain and woe:", "On brittle ground they build, and brittleness", "They finde when they weene sickerness:", "They live but as a bird or as a beast,", "In liberty, and under no arrest;", "Whereas a wedded man in his estate", "Liveth a life blissful and ordinate,", "Under the yoke of marriage y-bound;", "Well may his heart in joy and bliss abound.", "For who can be so buxom as a wife?", "Who is so true, and eke so attentive", "To keep him, sick and whole, as is his make?", "For weal or woe she will him not forsake:", "She is not weary him to love and serve,", "Though that he lie bedrid until he sterve.", "And yet some clerkes say it is not so;", "Of which he, Theophrast, is one of tho:", "What force though Theophrast list for to lie?", "", "\"Take no wife,\" quoth he, \"for husbandry,", "As for to spare in household thy dispence;", "A true servant doth more diligence", "Thy good to keep, than doth thine owen wife,", "For she will claim a half part all her life.", "And if that thou be sick, so God me save,", "Thy very friendes, or a true knave,", "Will keep thee bet than she, that waiteth aye", "After thy good, and hath done many a day.\"", "This sentence, and a hundred times worse,", "Writeth this man, there God his bones curse.", "But take no keep of all such vanity,", "Defy Theophrast, and hearken to me.", "", "A wife is Godde's gifte verily;", "All other manner giftes hardily,", "As handes, rentes, pasture, or commune,", "Or mebles, all be giftes of fortune,", "That passen as a shadow on the wall:", "But dread thou not, if plainly speak I shall,", "A wife will last, and in thine house endure,", "Well longer than thee list, paraventure.", "Marriage is a full great sacrament;", "He which that hath no wife, I hold him shent;", "He liveth helpless, and all desolate", "(I speak of folk in secular estate):", "And hearken why, I say not this for nought, --", "That woman is for manne's help y-wrought.", "The highe God, when he had Adam maked,", "And saw him all alone belly naked,", "God of his greate goodness saide then,", "Let us now make a help unto this man", "Like to himself; and then he made him Eve.", "Here may ye see, and hereby may ye preve,", "That a wife is man s help and his comfort,", "His paradise terrestre and his disport.", "So buxom and so virtuous is she,", "They muste needes live in unity;", "One flesh they be, and one blood, as I guess,", "With but one heart in weal and in distress.", "A wife? Ah! Saint Mary, ben'dicite,", "How might a man have any adversity", "That hath a wife? certes I cannot say", "The bliss the which that is betwixt them tway,", "There may no tongue it tell, or hearte think.", "If he be poor, she helpeth him to swink;", "She keeps his good, and wasteth never a deal;", "All that her husband list, her liketh well;", "She saith not ones Nay, when he saith Yea;", "\"Do this,\" saith he; \"All ready, Sir,\" saith she.", "O blissful order, wedlock precious!", "Thou art so merry, and eke so virtuous,", "And so commended and approved eke,", "That every man that holds him worth a leek", "Upon his bare knees ought all his life", "To thank his God, that him hath sent a wife;", "Or elles pray to God him for to send", "A wife, to last unto his life's end.", "For then his life is set in sickerness,", "He may not be deceived, as I guess,", "So that he work after his wife's rede;", "Then may he boldely bear up his head,", "They be so true, and therewithal so wise.", "For which, if thou wilt worken as the wise,", "Do alway so as women will thee rede.", "Lo how that Jacob, as these clerkes read,", "By good counsel of his mother Rebecc'", "Bounde the kiddes skin about his neck;", "For which his father's benison he wan.", "Lo Judith, as the story telle can,", "By good counsel she Godde's people kept,", "And slew him, Holofernes, while he slept.", "Lo Abigail, by good counsel, how she", "Saved her husband Nabal, when that he", "Should have been slain. And lo, Esther also", "By counsel good deliver'd out of woe", "The people of God, and made him, Mardoche,", "Of Assuere enhanced for to be.", "There is nothing in gree superlative", "(As saith Senec) above a humble wife.", "Suffer thy wife's tongue, as Cato bit;", "She shall command, and thou shalt suffer it,", "And yet she will obey of courtesy.", "A wife is keeper of thine husbandry:", "Well may the sicke man bewail and weep,", "There as there is no wife the house to keep.", "I warne thee, if wisely thou wilt wirch,", "Love well thy wife, as Christ loveth his church:", "Thou lov'st thyself, if thou lovest thy wife.", "No man hateth his flesh, but in his life", "He fost'reth it; and therefore bid I thee", "Cherish thy wife, or thou shalt never the.", "Husband and wife, what so men jape or play,", "Of worldly folk holde the sicker way;", "They be so knit there may no harm betide,", "And namely upon the wife's side.", "", "For which this January, of whom I told,", "Consider'd hath within his dayes old,", "The lusty life, the virtuous quiet,", "That is in marriage honey-sweet.", "And for his friends upon a day he sent", "To tell them the effect of his intent.", "With face sad, his tale he hath them told:", "He saide, \"Friendes, I am hoar and old,", "And almost (God wot) on my pitte's brink,", "Upon my soule somewhat must I think.", "I have my body foolishly dispended,", "Blessed be God that it shall be amended;", "For I will be certain a wedded man,", "And that anon in all the haste I can,", "Unto some maiden, fair and tender of age;", "I pray you shape for my marriage", "All suddenly, for I will not abide:", "And I will fond to espy, on my side,", "To whom I may be wedded hastily.", "But forasmuch as ye be more than,", "Ye shalle rather such a thing espy", "Than I, and where me best were to ally.", "But one thing warn I you, my friendes dear,", "I will none old wife have in no mannere:", "She shall not passe sixteen year certain.", "Old fish and younge flesh would I have fain.", "Better,\" quoth he, \"a pike than a pickerel,", "And better than old beef is tender veal.", "I will no woman thirty year of age,", "It is but beanestraw and great forage.", "And eke these olde widows (God it wot)", "They conne so much craft on Wade's boat,", "So muche brooke harm when that them lest,", "That with them should I never live in rest.", "For sundry schooles make subtle clerkes;", "Woman of many schooles half a clerk is.", "But certainly a young thing men may guy,", "Right as men may warm wax with handes ply.", "Wherefore I say you plainly in a clause,", "I will none old wife have, right for this cause.", "For if so were I hadde such mischance,", "That I in her could have no pleasance,", "Then should I lead my life in avoutrie,", "And go straight to the devil when I die.", "Nor children should I none upon her getten:", "Yet were me lever houndes had me eaten", "Than that mine heritage shoulde fall", "In strange hands: and this I tell you all.", "I doubte not I know the cause why", "Men shoulde wed: and farthermore know I", "There speaketh many a man of marriage", "That knows no more of it than doth my page,", "For what causes a man should take a wife.", "If he ne may not live chaste his life,", "Take him a wife with great devotion,", "Because of lawful procreation", "Of children, to th' honour of God above,", "And not only for paramour or love;", "And for they shoulde lechery eschew,", "And yield their debte when that it is due:", "Or for that each of them should help the other", "In mischief, as a sister shall the brother,", "And live in chastity full holily.", "But, Sires, by your leave, that am not I,", "For, God be thanked, I dare make avaunt,", "I feel my limbes stark and suffisant", "To do all that a man belongeth to:", "I wot myselfe best what I may do.", "Though I be hoar, I fare as doth a tree,", "That blossoms ere the fruit y-waxen be;", "The blossomy tree is neither dry nor dead;", "I feel me now here hoar but on my head.", "Mine heart and all my limbes are as green", "As laurel through the year is for to seen.", "And, since that ye have heard all mine intent,", "I pray you to my will ye would assent.\"", "", "Diverse men diversely him told", "Of marriage many examples old;", "Some blamed it, some praised it, certain;", "But at the haste, shortly for to sayn", "(As all day falleth altercation", "Betwixte friends in disputation),", "There fell a strife betwixt his brethren two,", "Of which that one was called Placebo,", "Justinus soothly called was that other.", "", "Placebo said; \"O January, brother,", "Full little need have ye, my lord so dear,", "Counsel to ask of any that is here:", "But that ye be so full of sapience,", "That you not liketh, for your high prudence,", "To waive from the word of Solomon.", "This word said he unto us every one;", "Work alle thing by counsel, -- thus said he, --", "And thenne shalt thou not repente thee", "But though that Solomon spake such a word,", "Mine owen deare brother and my lord,", "So wisly God my soule bring at rest,", "I hold your owen counsel is the best.", "For, brother mine, take of me this motive;", "I have now been a court-man all my life,", "And, God it wot, though I unworthy be,", "I have standen in full great degree", "Aboute lordes of full high estate;", "Yet had I ne'er with none of them debate;", "I never them contraried truely.", "I know well that my lord can more than I;", "What that he saith I hold it firm and stable,", "I say the same, or else a thing semblable.", "A full great fool is any counsellor", "That serveth any lord of high honour", "That dare presume, or ones thinken it;", "That his counsel should pass his lorde's wit.", "Nay, lordes be no fooles by my fay.", "Ye have yourselfe shewed here to day", "So high sentence, so holily and well", "That I consent, and confirm every deal", "Your wordes all, and your opinioun", "By God, there is no man in all this town", "Nor in Itale, could better have y-said.", "Christ holds him of this counsel well apaid.", "And truely it is a high courage", "Of any man that stopen is in age,", "To take a young wife, by my father's kin;", "Your hearte hangeth on a jolly pin.", "Do now in this matter right as you lest,", "For finally I hold it for the best.\"", "", "Justinus, that aye stille sat and heard,", "Right in this wise to Placebo answer'd.", "\"Now, brother mine, be patient I pray,", "Since ye have said, and hearken what I say.", "Senec, among his other wordes wise,", "Saith, that a man ought him right well advise,", "To whom he gives his hand or his chattel.", "And since I ought advise me right well", "To whom I give my good away from me,", "Well more I ought advise me, pardie,", "To whom I give my body: for alway", "I warn you well it is no childe's play", "To take a wife without advisement.", "Men must inquire (this is mine assent)", "Whe'er she be wise, or sober, or dronkelew,", "Or proud, or any other ways a shrew,", "A chidester, or a waster of thy good,", "Or rich or poor; or else a man is wood.", "Albeit so, that no man finde shall", "None in this world, that trotteth whole in all,", "No man, nor beast, such as men can devise,", "But nathehess it ought enough suffice", "With any wife, if so were that she had", "More goode thewes than her vices bad:", "And all this asketh leisure to inquere.", "For, God it wot, I have wept many a tear", "Full privily, since I have had a wife.", "Praise whoso will a wedded manne's life,", "Certes, I find in it but cost and care,", "And observances of all blisses bare.", "And yet, God wot, my neighebours about,", "And namely of women many a rout,", "Say that I have the moste steadfast wife,", "And eke the meekest one, that beareth life.", "But I know best where wringeth me my shoe,", "Ye may for me right as you like do", "Advise you, ye be a man of age,", "How that ye enter into marriage;", "And namely with a young wife and a fair,", "By him that made water, fire, earth, air,", "The youngest man that is in all this rout", "Is busy enough to bringen it about", "To have his wife alone, truste me:", "Ye shall not please her fully yeares three,", "This is to say, to do her full pleasance.", "A wife asketh full many an observance.", "I pray you that ye be not evil apaid.\"", "", "\"Well,\" quoth this January, \"and hast thou said?", "Straw for thy Senec, and for thy proverbs,", "I counte not a pannier full of herbs", "Of schoole termes; wiser men than thou,", "As thou hast heard, assented here right now", "To my purpose: Placebo, what say ye?\"", "\"I say it is a cursed man,\" quoth he,", "\"That letteth matrimony, sickerly.\"", "And with that word they rise up suddenly,", "And be assented fully, that he should", "Be wedded when him list, and where he would.", "", "High fantasy and curious business", "From day to day gan in the soul impress", "Of January about his marriage", "Many a fair shape, and many a fair visage", "There passed through his hearte night by night.", "As whoso took a mirror polish'd bright,", "And set it in a common market-place,", "Then should he see many a figure pace", "By his mirror; and in the same wise", "Gan January in his thought devise", "Of maidens, which that dwelte him beside:", "He wiste not where that he might abide.", "For if that one had beauty in her face,", "Another stood so in the people's grace", "For her sadness and her benignity,", "That of the people greatest voice had she:", "And some were rich and had a badde name.", "But natheless, betwixt earnest and game,", "He at the last appointed him on one,", "And let all others from his hearte gon,", "And chose her of his own authority;", "For love is blind all day, and may not see.", "And when that he was into bed y-brought,", "He pourtray'd in his heart and in his thought", "Her freshe beauty, and her age tender,", "Her middle small, her armes long and slender,", "Her wise governance, her gentleness,", "Her womanly bearing, and her sadness.", "And when that he on her was condescended,", "He thought his choice might not be amended;", "For when that he himself concluded had,", "He thought each other manne' s wit so bad,", "That impossible it were to reply", "Against his choice; this was his fantasy.", "His friendes sent he to, at his instance,", "And prayed them to do him that pleasance,", "That hastily they would unto him come;", "He would abridge their labour all and some:", "Needed no more for them to go nor ride,", "He was appointed where he would abide.", "", "Placebo came, and eke his friendes soon,", "And alderfirst he bade them all a boon,", "That none of them no arguments would make", "Against the purpose that he had y-take:", "Which purpose was pleasant to God, said he,", "And very ground of his prosperity.", "He said, there was a maiden in the town,", "Which that of beauty hadde great renown;", "All were it so she were of small degree,", "Sufficed him her youth and her beauty;", "Which maid, he said, he would have to his wife,", "To lead in ease and holiness his life;", "And thanked God, that he might have her all,", "That no wight with his blisse parte shall;", "And prayed them to labour in this need,", "And shape that he faile not to speed:", "For then, he said, his spirit was at ease.", "\"Then is,\" quoth he, \"nothing may me displease,", "Save one thing pricketh in my conscience,", "The which I will rehearse in your presence.", "I have,\" quoth he, \"heard said, full yore ago,", "There may no man have perfect blisses two,", "This is to say, on earth and eke in heaven.", "For though he keep him from the sinne's seven,", "And eke from every branch of thilke tree,", "Yet is there so perfect felicity,", "And so great ease and lust, in marriage,", "That ev'r I am aghast, now in mine age", "That I shall head now so merry a life,", "So delicate, withoute woe or strife,", "That I shall have mine heav'n on earthe here.", "For since that very heav'n is bought so dear,", "With tribulation and great penance,", "How should I then, living in such pleasance", "As alle wedded men do with their wives,", "Come to the bliss where Christ etern on live is?", "This is my dread; and ye, my brethren tway,", "Assoile me this question, I you pray.\"", "", "Justinus, which that hated his folly,", "Answer'd anon right in his japery;", "And, for he would his longe tale abridge,", "He woulde no authority allege,", "But saide; \"Sir, so there be none obstacle", "Other than this, God of his high miracle,", "And of his mercy, may so for you wirch,", "That, ere ye have your rights of holy church,", "Ye may repent of wedded manne's life,", "In which ye say there is no woe nor strife:", "And elles God forbid, but if he sent", "A wedded man his grace him to repent", "Well often, rather than a single man.", "And therefore, Sir, the beste rede I can,", "Despair you not, but have in your memory,", "Paraventure she may be your purgatory;", "She may be Godde's means, and Godde's whip;", "And then your soul shall up to heaven skip", "Swifter than doth an arrow from a bow.", "I hope to God hereafter ye shall know", "That there is none so great felicity", "In marriage, nor ever more shall be,", "That you shall let of your salvation;", "So that ye use, as skill is and reason,", "The lustes of your wife attemperly,", "And that ye please her not too amorously,", "And that ye keep you eke from other sin.", "My tale is done, for my wit is but thin.", "Be not aghast hereof, my brother dear,", "But let us waden out of this mattere,", "The Wife of Bath, if ye have understand,", "Of marriage, which ye have now in hand,", "Declared hath full well in little space;", "Fare ye now well, God have you in his grace.\"", "", "And with this word this Justin' and his brother", "Have ta'en their leave, and each of them of other.", "And when they saw that it must needes be,", "They wroughte so, by sleight and wise treaty,", "That she, this maiden, which that Maius hight,", "As hastily as ever that she might,", "Shall wedded be unto this January.", "I trow it were too longe you to tarry,", "If I told you of every script and band", "By which she was feoffed in his hand;", "Or for to reckon of her rich array", "But finally y-comen is the day", "That to the churche bothe be they went,", "For to receive the holy sacrament,", "Forth came the priest, with stole about his neck,", "And bade her be like Sarah and Rebecc'", "In wisdom and in truth of marriage;", "And said his orisons, as is usage,", "And crouched them, and prayed God should them bless,", "And made all sicker enough with holiness.", "", "Thus be they wedded with solemnity;", "And at the feaste sat both he and she,", "With other worthy folk, upon the dais.", "All full of joy and bliss is the palace,", "And full of instruments, and of vitaille,", "The moste dainteous of all Itale.", "Before them stood such instruments of soun',", "That Orpheus, nor of Thebes Amphioun,", "Ne made never such a melody.", "At every course came in loud minstrelsy,", "That never Joab trumped for to hear,", "Nor he, Theodomas, yet half so clear", "At Thebes, when the city was in doubt.", "Bacchus the wine them skinked all about.", "And Venus laughed upon every wight", "(For January was become her knight,", "And woulde both assaye his courage", "In liberty, and eke in marriage),", "And with her firebrand in her hand about", "Danced before the bride and all the rout.", "And certainly I dare right well say this,", "Hymeneus, that god of wedding is,", "Saw never his life so merry a wedded man.", "Hold thou thy peace, thou poet Marcian,", "That writest us that ilke wedding merry", "Of her Philology and him Mercury,", "And of the songes that the Muses sung;", "Too small is both thy pen, and eke thy tongue", "For to describen of this marriage.", "When tender youth hath wedded stooping age,", "There is such mirth that it may not be writ;", "Assay it youreself, then may ye wit", "If that I lie or no in this mattere.", "", "Maius, that sat with so benign a cheer,", "Her to behold it seemed faerie;", "Queen Esther never look'd with such an eye", "On Assuere, so meek a look had she;", "I may you not devise all her beauty;", "But thus much of her beauty tell I may,", "That she was hike the bright morrow of May", "Full filled of all beauty and pleasance.", "This January is ravish'd in a trance,", "At every time he looked in her face;", "But in his heart he gan her to menace,", "That he that night in armes would her strain", "Harder than ever Paris did Helene.", "But natheless yet had he great pity", "That thilke night offende her must he,", "And thought, \"Alas, O tender creature,", "Now woulde God ye mighte well endure", "All my courage, it is so sharp and keen;", "I am aghast ye shall it not sustene.", "But God forbid that I did all my might.", "Now woulde God that it were waxen night,", "And that the night would lasten evermo'.", "I would that all this people were y-go.\"", "And finally he did all his labour,", "As he best mighte, saving his honour,", "To haste them from the meat in subtle wise.", "", "The time came that reason was to rise;", "And after that men dance, and drinke fast,", "And spices all about the house they cast,", "And full of joy and bliss is every man,", "All but a squire, that highte Damian,", "Who carv'd before the knight full many a day;", "He was so ravish'd on his lady May,", "That for the very pain he was nigh wood;", "Almost he swelt and swooned where he stood,", "So sore had Venus hurt him with her brand,", "As that she bare it dancing in her hand.", "And to his bed he went him hastily;", "No more of him as at this time speak I;", "But there I let him weep enough and plain,", "Till freshe May will rue upon his pain.", "O perilous fire, that in the bedstraw breedeth!", "O foe familiar, that his service bedeth!", "O servant traitor, O false homely hewe,", "Like to the adder in bosom shy untrue,", "God shield us alle from your acquaintance!", "O January, drunken in pleasance", "Of marriage, see how thy Damian,", "Thine owen squier and thy boren man,", "Intendeth for to do thee villainy:", "God grante thee thine homehy foe t' espy.", "For in this world is no worse pestilence", "Than homely foe, all day in thy presence.", "", "Performed hath the sun his arc diurn,", "No longer may the body of him sojourn", "On the horizon, in that latitude:", "Night with his mantle, that is dark and rude,", "Gan overspread the hemisphere about:", "For which departed is this lusty rout", "From January, with thank on every side.", "Home to their houses lustily they ride,", "Where as they do their thinges as them lest,", "And when they see their time they go to rest.", "Soon after that this hasty January", "Will go to bed, he will no longer tarry.", "He dranke hippocras, clarre, and vernage", "Of spices hot, to increase his courage;", "And many a lectuary had he full fine,", "Such as the cursed monk Dan Constantine", "Hath written in his book de Coitu;", "To eat them all he would nothing eschew:", "And to his privy friendes thus said he:", "\"For Godde's love, as soon as it may be,", "Let voiden all this house in courteous wise.\"", "And they have done right as he will devise.", "Men drinken, and the travers draw anon;", "The bride is brought to bed as still as stone;", "And when the bed was with the priest y-bless'd,", "Out of the chamber every wight him dress'd,", "And January hath fast in arms y-take", "His freshe May, his paradise, his make.", "He lulled her, he kissed her full oft;", "With thicke bristles of his beard unsoft,", "Like to the skin of houndfish, sharp as brere", "(For he was shav'n all new in his mannere),", "He rubbed her upon her tender face,", "And saide thus; \"Alas! I must trespace", "To you, my spouse, and you greatly offend,", "Ere time come that I will down descend.", "But natheless consider this,\" quoth he,", "\"There is no workman, whatsoe'er he be,", "That may both worke well and hastily:", "This will be done at leisure perfectly.", "It is no force how longe that we play;", "In true wedlock coupled be we tway;", "And blessed be the yoke that we be in,", "For in our actes may there be no sin.", "A man may do no sinne with his wife,", "Nor hurt himselfe with his owen knife;", "For we have leave to play us by the law.\"", "", "Thus labour'd he, till that the day gan daw,", "And then he took a sop in fine clarre,", "And upright in his bedde then sat he.", "And after that he sang full loud and clear,", "And kiss'd his wife, and made wanton cheer.", "He was all coltish, full of ragerie", "And full of jargon as a flecked pie.", "The slacke skin about his necke shaked,", "While that he sang, so chanted he and craked.", "But God wot what that May thought in her heart,", "When she him saw up sitting in his shirt", "In his night-cap, and with his necke lean:", "She praised not his playing worth a bean.", "Then said he thus; \"My reste will I take", "Now day is come, I may no longer wake;", "And down he laid his head and slept till prime.", "And afterward, when that he saw his time,", "Up rose January, but freshe May", "Helde her chamber till the fourthe day,", "As usage is of wives for the best.", "For every labour some time must have rest,", "Or elles longe may he not endure;", "This is to say, no life of creature,", "Be it of fish, or bird, or beast, or man.", "", "Now will I speak of woeful Damian,", "That languisheth for love, as ye shall hear;", "Therefore I speak to him in this manneare.", "I say. \"O silly Damian, alas!", "Answer to this demand, as in this case,", "How shalt thou to thy lady, freshe May,", "Telle thy woe? She will alway say nay;", "Eke if thou speak, she will thy woe bewray;", "God be thine help, I can no better say.", "This sicke Damian in Venus' fire", "So burned that he died for desire;", "For which he put his life in aventure,", "No longer might he in this wise endure;", "But privily a penner gan he borrow,", "And in a letter wrote he all his sorrow,", "In manner of a complaint or a lay,", "Unto his faire freshe lady May.", "And in a purse of silk, hung on his shirt,", "He hath it put, and laid it at his heart.", "", "The moone, that at noon was thilke day", "That January had wedded freshe May,", "In ten of Taure, was into Cancer glided;", "So long had Maius in her chamber abided,", "As custom is unto these nobles all.", "A bride shall not eaten in the ball", "Till dayes four, or three days at the least,", "Y-passed be; then let her go to feast.", "The fourthe day complete from noon to noon,", "When that the highe masse was y-done,", "In halle sat this January, and May,", "As fresh as is the brighte summer's day.", "And so befell, how that this goode man", "Remember'd him upon this Damian.", "And saide; \"Saint Mary, how may this be,", "That Damian attendeth not to me?", "Is he aye sick? or how may this betide?\"", "His squiers, which that stoode there beside,", "Excused him, because of his sickness,", "Which letted him to do his business:", "None other cause mighte make him tarry.", "\"That me forthinketh,\" quoth this January", "\"He is a gentle squier, by my truth;", "If that he died, it were great harm and ruth.", "He is as wise, as discreet, and secre',", "As any man I know of his degree,", "And thereto manly and eke serviceble,", "And for to be a thrifty man right able.", "But after meat, as soon as ever I may", "I will myself visit him, and eke May,", "To do him all the comfort that I can.\"", "And for that word him blessed every man,", "That of his bounty and his gentleness", "He woulde so comforten in sickness", "His squier, for it was a gentle deed.", "", "\"Dame,\" quoth this January, \"take good heed,", "At after meat, ye with your women all", "(When that ye be in chamb'r out of this hall),", "That all ye go to see this Damian:", "Do him disport, he is a gentle man;", "And telle him that I will him visite,", "Have I nothing but rested me a lite:", "And speed you faste, for I will abide", "Till that ye sleepe faste by my side.\"", "And with that word he gan unto him call", "A squier, that was marshal of his hall,", "And told him certain thinges that he wo'ld.", "This freshe May hath straight her way y-hold,", "With all her women, unto Damian.", "Down by his beddes side sat she than,", "Comforting him as goodly as she may.", "This Damian, when that his time he say,", "In secret wise his purse, and eke his bill,", "In which that he y-written had his will,", "Hath put into her hand withoute more,", "Save that he sighed wondrous deep and sore,", "And softely to her right thus said he:", "\"Mercy, and that ye not discover me:", "For I am dead if that this thing be kid.\"", "The purse hath she in her bosom hid,", "And went her way; ye get no more of me;", "But unto January come is she,", "That on his bedde's side sat full soft.", "He took her, and he kissed her full oft,", "And laid him down to sleep, and that anon.", "She feigned her as that she muste gon", "There as ye know that every wight must need;", "And when she of this bill had taken heed,", "She rent it all to cloutes at the last,", "And in the privy softely it cast.", "Who studieth now but faire freshe May?", "Adown by olde January she lay,", "That slepte, till the cough had him awaked:", "Anon he pray'd her strippe her all naked,", "He would of her, he said, have some pleasance;", "And said her clothes did him incumbrance.", "And she obey'd him, be her lefe or loth.", "But, lest that precious folk be with me wroth,", "How that he wrought I dare not to you tell,", "Or whether she thought it paradise or hell;", "But there I let them worken in their wise", "Till evensong ring, and they must arise.", "", "Were it by destiny, or aventure,", "Were it by influence, or by nature,", "Or constellation, that in such estate", "The heaven stood at that time fortunate", "As for to put a bill of Venus' works", "(For alle thing hath time, as say these clerks),", "To any woman for to get her love,", "I cannot say; but greate God above,", "That knoweth that none act is causeless,", "He deem of all, for I will hold my peace.", "But sooth is this, how that this freshe May", "Hath taken such impression that day", "Of pity on this sicke Damian,", "That from her hearte she not drive can", "The remembrance for to do him ease.", "\"Certain,\" thought she, \"whom that this thing displease", "I recke not, for here I him assure,", "To love him best of any creature,", "Though he no more haddee than his shirt.\"", "Lo, pity runneth soon in gentle heart.", "Here may ye see, how excellent franchise", "In women is when they them narrow advise.", "Some tyrant is, -- as there be many a one, --", "That hath a heart as hard as any stone,", "Which would have let him sterven in the place", "Well rather than have granted him her grace;", "And then rejoicen in her cruel pride.", "And reckon not to be a homicide.", "This gentle May, full filled of pity,", "Right of her hand a letter maked she,", "In which she granted him her very grace;", "There lacked nought, but only day and place,", "Where that she might unto his lust suffice:", "For it shall be right as he will devise.", "And when she saw her time upon a day", "To visit this Damian went this May,", "And subtilly this letter down she thrust", "Under his pillow, read it if him lust.", "She took him by the hand, and hard him twist", "So secretly, that no wight of it wist,", "And bade him be all whole; and forth she went", "To January, when he for her sent.", "Up rose Damian the nexte morrow,", "All passed was his sickness and his sorrow.", "He combed him, he proined him and picked,", "He did all that unto his lady liked;", "And eke to January he went as low", "As ever did a dogge for the bow.", "He is so pleasant unto every man", "(For craft is all, whoso that do it can),", "Every wight is fain to speak him good;", "And fully in his lady's grace he stood.", "Thus leave I Damian about his need,", "And in my tale forth I will proceed.", "", "Some clerke holde that felicity", "Stands in delight; and therefore certain he,", "This noble January, with all his might", "In honest wise as longeth to a knight,", "Shope him to live full deliciously:", "His housing, his array, as honestly", "To his degree was maked as a king's.", "Amonges other of his honest things", "He had a garden walled all with stone;", "So fair a garden wot I nowhere none.", "For out of doubt I verily suppose", "That he that wrote the Romance of the Rose", "Could not of it the beauty well devise;", "Nor Priapus mighte not well suffice,", "Though he be god of gardens, for to tell", "The beauty of the garden, and the well", "That stood under a laurel always green.", "Full often time he, Pluto, and his queen", "Proserpina, and all their faerie,", "Disported them and made melody", "About that well, and danced, as men told.", "This noble knight, this January old", "Such dainty had in it to walk and play,", "That he would suffer no wight to bear the key,", "Save he himself, for of the small wicket", "He bare always of silver a cliket,", "With which, when that him list, he it unshet.", "And when that he would pay his wife's debt,", "In summer season, thither would he go,", "And May his wife, and no wight but they two;", "And thinges which that were not done in bed,", "He in the garden them perform'd and sped.", "And in this wise many a merry day", "Lived this January and fresh May,", "But worldly joy may not always endure", "To January, nor to no creatucere.", "", "O sudden hap! O thou fortune unstable!", "Like to the scorpion so deceivable,", "That fhatt'rest with thy head when thou wilt sting;", "Thy tail is death, through thine envenoming.", "O brittle joy! O sweete poison quaint!", "O monster, that so subtilly canst paint", "Thy giftes, under hue of steadfastness,", "That thou deceivest bothe more and less!", "Why hast thou January thus deceiv'd,", "That haddest him for thy full friend receiv'd?", "And now thou hast bereft him both his eyen,", "For sorrow of which desireth he to dien.", "Alas! this noble January free,", "Amid his lust and his prosperity", "Is waxen blind, and that all suddenly.", "He weeped and he wailed piteously;", "And therewithal the fire of jealousy", "(Lest that his wife should fall in some folly)", "So burnt his hearte, that he woulde fain,", "That some man bothe him and her had slain;", "For neither after his death, nor in his life,", "Ne would he that she were no love nor wife,", "But ever live as widow in clothes black,", "Sole as the turtle that hath lost her make.", "But at the last, after a month or tway,", "His sorrow gan assuage, soothe to say.", "For, when he wist it might none other be,", "He patiently took his adversity:", "Save out of doubte he may not foregon", "That he was jealous evermore-in-one:", "Which jealousy was so outrageous,", "That neither in hall, nor in none other house,", "Nor in none other place never the mo'", "He woulde suffer her to ride or go,", "But if that he had hand on her alway.", "For which full often wepte freshe May,", "That loved Damian so burningly", "That she must either dien suddenly,", "Or elles she must have him as her lest:", "She waited when her hearte woulde brest.", "Upon that other side Damian", "Becomen is the sorrowfullest man", "That ever was; for neither night nor day", "He mighte speak a word to freshe May,", "As to his purpose, of no such mattere,", "But if that January must it hear,", "That had a hand upon her evermo'.", "But natheless, by writing to and fro,", "And privy signes, wist he what she meant,", "And she knew eke the fine of his intent.", "", "O January, what might it thee avail,", "Though thou might see as far as shippes sail?", "For as good is it blind deceiv'd to be,", "As be deceived when a man may see.", "Lo, Argus, which that had a hundred eyen,", "For all that ever he could pore or pryen,", "Yet was he blent; and, God wot, so be mo',", "That weene wisly that it be not so:", "Pass over is an ease, I say no more.", "This freshe May, of which I spake yore,", "In warm wax hath imprinted the cliket", "That January bare of the small wicket", "By which into his garden oft he went;", "And Damian, that knew all her intent,", "The cliket counterfeited privily;", "There is no more to say, but hastily", "Some wonder by this cliket shall betide,", "Which ye shall hearen, if ye will abide.", "", "O noble Ovid, sooth say'st thou, God wot,", "What sleight is it, if love be long and hot,", "That he'll not find it out in some mannere?", "By Pyramus and Thisbe may men lear;", "Though they were kept full long and strait o'er all,", "They be accorded, rowning through a wall,", "Where no wight could have found out such a sleight.", "But now to purpose; ere that dayes eight", "Were passed of the month of July, fill", "That January caught so great a will,", "Through egging of his wife, him for to play", "In his garden, and no wight but they tway,", "That in a morning to this May said he:", "\"Rise up, my wife, my love, my lady free;", "The turtle's voice is heard, mine owen sweet;", "The winter is gone, with all his raines weet.", "Come forth now with thine eyen columbine", "Well fairer be thy breasts than any wine.", "The garden is enclosed all about;", "Come forth, my white spouse; for, out of doubt,", "Thou hast me wounded in mine heart, O wife:", "No spot in thee was e'er in all thy life.", "Come forth, and let us taken our disport;", "I choose thee for my wife and my comfort.\"", "Such olde lewed wordes used he.", "On Damian a signe made she,", "That he should go before with his cliket.", "This Damian then hath opened the wicket,", "And in he start, and that in such mannere", "That no wight might him either see or hear;", "And still he sat under a bush. Anon", "This January, as blind as is a stone,", "With Maius in his hand, and no wight mo',", "Into this freshe garden is y-go,", "And clapped to the wicket suddenly.", "\"Now, wife,\" quoth he, \"here is but thou and I;", "Thou art the creature that I beste love:", "For, by that Lord that sits in heav'n above,", "Lever I had to dien on a knife,", "Than thee offende, deare true wife.", "For Godde's sake, think how I thee chees,", "Not for no covetise doubteless,", "But only for the love I had to thee.", "And though that I be old, and may not see,", "Be to me true, and I will tell you why.", "Certes three thinges shall ye win thereby:", "First, love of Christ, and to yourself honour,", "And all mine heritage, town and tow'r.", "I give it you, make charters as you lest;", "This shall be done to-morrow ere sun rest,", "So wisly God my soule bring to bliss!", "I pray you, on this covenant me kiss.", "And though that I be jealous, wite me not;", "Ye be so deep imprinted in my thought,", "That when that I consider your beauty,", "And therewithal th'unlikely eld of me,", "I may not, certes, though I shoulde die,", "Forbear to be out of your company,", "For very love; this is withoute doubt:", "Now kiss me, wife, and let us roam about.\"", "", "This freshe May, when she these wordes heard,", "Benignely to January answer'd;", "But first and forward she began to weep:", "\"I have,\" quoth she, \"a soule for to keep", "As well as ye, and also mine honour,", "And of my wifehood thilke tender flow'r", "Which that I have assured in your hond,", "When that the priest to you my body bond:", "Wherefore I will answer in this mannere,", "With leave of you mine owen lord so dear.", "I pray to God, that never dawn the day", "That I no sterve, as foul as woman may,", "If e'er I do unto my kin that shame,", "Or elles I impaire so my name,", "That I bee false; and if I do that lack,", "Do strippe me, and put me in a sack,", "And in the nexte river do me drench:", "I am a gentle woman, and no wench.", "Why speak ye thus? but men be e'er untrue,", "And women have reproof of you aye new.", "Ye know none other dalliance, I believe,", "But speak to us of untrust and repreve.\"", "", "And with that word she saw where Damian", "Sat in the bush, and coughe she began;", "And with her finger signe made she,", "That Damian should climb upon a tree", "That charged was with fruit; and up he went:", "For verily he knew all her intent,", "And every signe that she coulde make,", "Better than January her own make.", "For in a letter she had told him all", "Of this matter, how that he worke shall.", "And thus I leave him sitting in the perry,", "And January and May roaming full merry.", "", "Bright was the day, and blue the firmament;", "Phoebus of gold his streames down had sent", "To gladden every flow'r with his warmness;", "He was that time in Geminis, I guess,", "But little from his declination", "Of Cancer, Jove's exaltation.", "And so befell, in that bright morning-tide,", "That in the garden, on the farther side,", "Pluto, that is the king of Faerie,", "And many a lady in his company", "Following his wife, the queen Proserpina, --", "Which that he ravished out of Ethna,", "While that she gather'd flowers in the mead", "(In Claudian ye may the story read,", "How in his grisly chariot he her fet), --", "This king of Faerie adown him set", "Upon a bank of turfes fresh and green,", "And right anon thus said he to his queen.", "\"My wife,\" quoth he, \"there may no wight say nay, --", "Experience so proves it every day, --", "The treason which that woman doth to man.", "Ten hundred thousand stories tell I can", "Notable of your untruth and brittleness", "O Solomon, richest of all richess,", "Full fill'd of sapience and worldly glory,", "Full worthy be thy wordes of memory", "To every wight that wit and reason can.", "Thus praised he yet the bounte of man:", "'Among a thousand men yet found I one,", "But of all women found I never none.'", "Thus said this king, that knew your wickedness;", "And Jesus, Filius Sirach, as I guess,", "He spake of you but seldom reverence.", "A wilde fire and corrupt pestilence", "So fall upon your bodies yet to-night!", "Ne see ye not this honourable knight?", "Because, alas! that he is blind and old,", "His owen man shall make him cuckold.", "Lo, where he sits, the lechour, in the tree.", "Now will I granten, of my majesty,", "Unto this olde blinde worthy knight,", "That he shall have again his eyen sight,", "When that his wife will do him villainy;", "Then shall be knowen all her harlotry,", "Both in reproof of her and other mo'.\"", "\"Yea, Sir,\" quoth Proserpine,\" and will ye so?", "Now by my mother Ceres' soul I swear", "That I shall give her suffisant answer,", "And alle women after, for her sake;", "That though they be in any guilt y-take,", "With face bold they shall themselves excuse,", "And bear them down that woulde them accuse.", "For lack of answer, none of them shall dien.", "", "All had ye seen a thing with both your eyen,", "Yet shall we visage it so hardily,", "And weep, and swear, and chide subtilly,", "That ye shall be as lewed as be geese.", "What recketh me of your authorities?", "I wot well that this Jew, this Solomon,", "Found of us women fooles many one:", "But though that he founde no good woman,", "Yet there hath found many another man", "Women full good, and true, and virtuous;", "Witness on them that dwelt in Christes house;", "With martyrdom they proved their constance.", "The Roman gestes make remembrance", "Of many a very true wife also.", "But, Sire, be not wroth, albeit so,", "Though that he said he found no good woman,", "I pray you take the sentence of the man:", "He meant thus, that in sovereign bounte", "Is none but God, no, neither he nor she.", "Hey, for the very God that is but one,", "Why make ye so much of Solomon?", "What though he made a temple, Godde's house?", "What though he were rich and glorious?", "So made he eke a temple of false goddes;", "How might he do a thing that more forbode is?", "Pardie, as fair as ye his name emplaster,", "He was a lechour, and an idolaster,", "And in his eld he very God forsook.", "And if that God had not (as saith the book)", "Spared him for his father's sake, he should", "Have lost his regne rather than he would.", "I sette not of all the villainy", "That he of women wrote, a butterfly.", "I am a woman, needes must I speak,", "Or elles swell until mine hearte break.", "For since he said that we be jangleresses,", "As ever may I brooke whole my tresses,", "I shall not spare for no courtesy", "To speak him harm, that said us villainy.\"", "\"Dame,\" quoth this Pluto, \"be no longer wroth;", "I give it up: but, since I swore mine oath", "That I would grant to him his sight again,", "My word shall stand, that warn I you certain:", "I am a king; it sits me not to lie.\"", "\"And I,\" quoth she, \"am queen of Faerie.", "Her answer she shall have, I undertake,", "Let us no more wordes of it make.", "Forsooth, I will no longer you contrary.\"", "", "Now let us turn again to January,", "That in the garden with his faire May", "Singeth well merrier than the popinjay:", "\"You love I best, and shall, and other none.\"", "So long about the alleys is he gone,", "Till he was come to that ilke perry,", "Where as this Damian satte full merry", "On high, among the freshe leaves green.", "This freshe May, that is so bright and sheen,", "Gan for to sigh, and said, \"Alas my side!", "Now, Sir,\" quoth she, \"for aught that may betide,", "I must have of the peares that I see,", "Or I must die, so sore longeth me", "To eaten of the smalle peares green;", "Help, for her love that is of heaven queen!", "I tell you well, a woman in my plight", "May have to fruit so great an appetite,", "That she may dien, but she of it have. \"", "\"Alas!\" quoth he, \"that I had here a knave", "That coulde climb; alas! alas!\" quoth he,", "\"For I am blind.\" \"Yea, Sir, no force,\" quoth she;", "\"But would ye vouchesafe, for Godde's sake,", "The perry in your armes for to take", "(For well I wot that ye mistruste me),", "Then would I climbe well enough,\" quoth she,", "\"So I my foot might set upon your back.\"", "\"Certes,\" said he, \"therein shall be no lack,", "Might I you helpe with mine hearte's blood.\"", "He stooped down, and on his back she stood,", "And caught her by a twist, and up she go'th.", "(Ladies, I pray you that ye be not wroth,", "I cannot glose, I am a rude man):", "And suddenly anon this Damian", "Gan pullen up the smock, and in he throng.", "And when that Pluto saw this greate wrong,", "To January he gave again his sight,", "And made him see as well as ever he might.", "And when he thus had caught his sight again,", "Was never man of anything so fain:", "But on his wife his thought was evermo'.", "Up to the tree he cast his eyen two,", "And saw how Damian his wife had dress'd,", "In such mannere, it may not be express'd,", "But if I woulde speak uncourteously.", "And up he gave a roaring and a cry,", "As doth the mother when the child shall die;", "\"Out! help! alas! harow!\" he gan to cry;", "\"O stronge, lady, stowre! what doest thou?\"", "", "And she answered: \"Sir, what aileth you?", "Have patience and reason in your mind,", "I have you help'd on both your eyen blind.", "On peril of my soul, I shall not lien,", "As me was taught to helpe with your eyen,", "Was nothing better for to make you see,", "Than struggle with a man upon a tree:", "God wot, I did it in full good intent.\"", "\"Struggle!\" quoth he, \"yea, algate in it went.", "God give you both one shame's death to dien!", "He swived thee; I saw it with mine eyen;", "And elles be I hanged by the halse.\"", "\"Then is,\" quoth she, \"my medicine all false;", "For certainly, if that ye mighte see,", "Ye would not say these wordes unto me.", "Ye have some glimpsing, and no perfect sight.\"", "\"I see,\" quoth he, \"as well as ever I might,", "(Thanked be God!) with both mine eyen two,", "And by my faith me thought he did thee so.\"", "\"Ye maze, ye maze, goode Sir,\" quoth she;", "\"This thank have I for I have made you see:", "Alas!\" quoth she, \"that e'er I was so kind.\"", "\"Now, Dame,\" quoth he, \"let all pass out of mind;", "Come down, my lefe, and if I have missaid,", "God help me so, as I am evil apaid.", "But, by my father's soul, I ween'd have seen", "How that this Damian had by thee lain,", "And that thy smock had lain upon his breast.\"", "\"Yea, Sir,\" quoth she, \"ye may ween as ye lest:", "But, Sir, a man that wakes out of his sleep,", "He may not suddenly well take keep", "Upon a thing, nor see it perfectly,", "Till that he be adawed verily.", "Right so a man, that long hath blind y-be,", "He may not suddenly so well y-see,", "First when his sight is newe come again,", "As he that hath a day or two y-seen.", "Till that your sight establish'd be a while,", "There may full many a sighte you beguile.", "Beware, I pray you, for, by heaven's king,", "Full many a man weeneth to see a thing,", "And it is all another than it seemeth;", "He which that misconceiveth oft misdeemeth.\"", "And with that word she leapt down from the tree.", "This January, who is glad but he?", "He kissed her, and clipped her full oft,", "And on her womb he stroked her full soft;", "And to his palace home he hath her lad.", "Now, goode men, I pray you to be glad.", "Thus endeth here my tale of January,", "God bless us, and his mother, Sainte Mary." ], "linecount": "1206" }, { "title": "Revenge", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "'Ah! quit me not yet, for the wind whistles shrill,", "Its blast wanders mournfully over the hill,", "The thunder's wild voice rattles madly above,", "You will not then, cannot then, leave me my love.--'", "", "I must dearest Agnes, the night is far gone--", "I must wander this evening to Strasburg alone,", "I must seek the drear tomb of my ancestors' bones,", "And must dig their remains from beneath the cold stones.", "", "'For the spirit of Conrad there meets me this night,", "And we quit not the tomb 'till dawn of the light,", "And Conrad's been dead just a month and a day!", "So farewell dearest Agnes for I must away,--", "", "'He bid me bring with me what most I held dear,", "Or a month from that time should I lie on my bier,", "And I'd sooner resign this false fluttering breath,", "Than my Agnes should dread either danger or death,", "", "'And I love you to madness my Agnes I love,", "My constant affection this night will I prove,", "This night will I go to the sepulchre's jaw", "Alone will I glut its all conquering maw'--", "", "'No! no loved Adolphus thy Agnes will share,", "In the tomb all the dangers that wait for you there,", "I fear not the spirit,--I fear not the grave,", "My dearest Adolphus I'd perish to save'--", "", "'Nay seek not to say that thy love shall not go,", "But spare me those ages of horror and woe,", "For I swear to thee here that I'll perish ere day,", "If you go unattended by Agnes away'--", "", "The night it was bleak the fierce storm raged around,", "The lightning's blue fire-light flashed on the ground,", "Strange forms seemed to flit,--and howl tidings of fate,", "As Agnes advanced to the sepulchre gate.--", "", "The youth struck the portal,--the echoing sound", "Was fearfully rolled midst the tombstones around,", "The blue lightning gleamed o'er the dark chapel spire,", "And tinged were the storm clouds with sulphurous fire.", "", "Still they gazed on the tombstone where Conrad reclined,", "Yet they shrank at the cold chilling blast of the wind,", "When a strange silver brilliance pervaded the scene,", "And a figure advanced--tall in form--fierce in mien.", "", "A mantle encircled his shadowy form,", "As light as a gossamer borne on the storm,", "Celestial terror sat throned in his gaze,", "Like the midnight pestiferous meteor's blaze.--", "", "SPIRIT:", "Thy father, Adolphus! was false, false as hell,", "And Conrad has cause to remember it well,", "He ruined my Mother, despised me his son,", "I quitted the world ere my vengeance was done.", "", "I was nearly expiring--'twas close of the day,--", "A demon advanced to the bed where I lay,", "He gave me the power from whence I was hurled,", "To return to revenge, to return to the world,--", "", "Now Adolphus I'll seize thy best loved in my arms,", "I'll drag her to Hades all blooming in charms,", "On the black whirlwind's thundering pinion I'll ride,", "And fierce yelling fiends shall exult o'er thy bride--", "", "He spoke, and extending his ghastly arms wide,", "Majestic advanced with a swift noiseless stride,", "He clasped the fair Agnes--he raised her on high,", "And cleaving the roof sped his way to the sky--", "", "All was now silent,--and over the tomb,", "Thicker, deeper, was swiftly extended a gloom,", "Adolphus in horror sank down on the stone,", "And his fleeting soul fled with a harrowing groan." ], "linecount": "65" }, { "title": "The Canterbury Tales: The Nun's Priest's Tale", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "THE PROLOGUE.", "", "\"Ho!\" quoth the Knight, \"good sir, no more of this;", "That ye have said is right enough, y-wis,", "And muche more; for little heaviness", "Is right enough to muche folk, I guess.", "I say for me, it is a great disease,", "Where as men have been in great wealth and ease,", "To hearen of their sudden fall, alas!", "And the contrary is joy and great solas,", "As when a man hath been in poor estate,", "And climbeth up, and waxeth fortunate,", "And there abideth in prosperity;", "Such thing is gladsome, as it thinketh me,", "And of such thing were goodly for to tell.\"", "", "\"Yea,\" quoth our Hoste, \"by Saint Paule's bell.", "Ye say right sooth; this monk hath clapped loud;", "He spake how Fortune cover'd with a cloud", "I wot not what, and als' of a tragedy", "Right now ye heard: and pardie no remedy", "It is for to bewaile, nor complain", "That that is done, and also it is pain,", "As ye have said, to hear of heaviness.", "Sir Monk, no more of this, so God you bless;", "Your tale annoyeth all this company;", "Such talking is not worth a butterfly,", "For therein is there no sport nor game;", "Therefore, Sir Monke, Dan Piers by your name,", "I pray you heart'ly, tell us somewhat else,", "For sickerly, n'ere clinking of your bells,", "That on your bridle hang on every side,", "By heaven's king, that for us alle died,", "I should ere this have fallen down for sleep,", "Although the slough had been never so deep;", "Then had your tale been all told in vain.", "For certainly, as these clerkes sayn,", "Where as a man may have no audience,", "Nought helpeth it to telle his sentence.", "And well I wot the substance is in me,", "If anything shall well reported be.", "Sir, say somewhat of hunting, I you pray.\"", "", "\"Nay,\" quoth the Monk, \"I have no lust to play;", "Now let another tell, as I have told.\"", "Then spake our Host with rude speech and bold,", "And said unto the Nunne's Priest anon,", "\"Come near, thou Priest, come hither, thou Sir John,", "Tell us such thing as may our heartes glade.", "Be blithe, although thou ride upon a jade.", "What though thine horse be bothe foul and lean?", "If he will serve thee, reck thou not a bean;", "Look that thine heart be merry evermo'.\"", "", "\"Yes, Host,\" quoth he, \"so may I ride or go,", "But I be merry, y-wis I will be blamed.\"", "And right anon his tale he hath attamed", "And thus he said unto us every one,", "This sweete priest, this goodly man, Sir John.", "", "THE TALE.", "", "A poor widow, somedeal y-stept in age,", "Was whilom dwelling in a poor cottage,", "Beside a grove, standing in a dale.", "This widow, of which I telle you my tale,", "Since thilke day that she was last a wife,", "In patience led a full simple life,", "For little was her chattel and her rent.", "By husbandry of such as God her sent,", "She found herself, and eke her daughters two.", "Three large sowes had she, and no mo';", "Three kine, and eke a sheep that highte Mall.", "Full sooty was her bow'r, and eke her hall,", "In which she ate full many a slender meal.", "Of poignant sauce knew she never a deal.", "No dainty morsel passed through her throat;", "Her diet was accordant to her cote.", "Repletion her made never sick;", "Attemper diet was all her physic,", "And exercise, and hearte's suffisance.", "The goute let her nothing for to dance,", "Nor apoplexy shente not her head.", "No wine drank she, neither white nor red:", "Her board was served most with white and black,", "Milk and brown bread, in which she found no lack,", "Seind bacon, and sometimes an egg or tway;", "For she was as it were a manner dey.", "A yard she had, enclosed all about", "With stickes, and a drye ditch without,", "In which she had a cock, hight Chanticleer;", "In all the land of crowing n'as his peer.", "His voice was merrier than the merry orgon,", "On masse days that in the churches gon.", "Well sickerer was his crowing in his lodge,", "Than is a clock, or an abbay horloge.", "By nature he knew each ascension", "Of th' equinoctial in thilke town;", "For when degrees fiftene were ascended,", "Then crew he, that it might not be amended.", "His comb was redder than the fine coral,", "Embattell'd as it were a castle wall.", "His bill was black, and as the jet it shone;", "Like azure were his legges and his tone;", "His nailes whiter than the lily flow'r,", "And like the burnish'd gold was his colour,", "This gentle cock had in his governance", "Sev'n hennes, for to do all his pleasance,", "Which were his sisters and his paramours,", "And wondrous like to him as of colours.", "Of which the fairest-hued in the throat", "Was called Damoselle Partelote,", "Courteous she was, discreet, and debonair,", "And companiable, and bare herself so fair,", "Since the day that she sev'n night was old,", "That truely she had the heart in hold", "Of Chanticleer, locked in every lith;", "He lov'd her so, that well was him therewith,", "But such a joy it was to hear them sing,", "When that the brighte sunne gan to spring,", "In sweet accord, \"My lefe is fare in land.\"", "For, at that time, as I have understand,", "Beastes and birdes coulde speak and sing.", "", "And so befell, that in a dawening,", "As Chanticleer among his wives all", "Sat on his perche, that was in the hall,", "And next him sat this faire Partelote,", "This Chanticleer gan groanen in his throat,", "As man that in his dream is dretched sore,", "And when that Partelote thus heard him roar,", "She was aghast, and saide, \"Hearte dear,", "What aileth you to groan in this mannere?", "Ye be a very sleeper, fy for shame!\"", "And he answer'd and saide thus; \"Madame,", "I pray you that ye take it not agrief;", "By God, me mette I was in such mischief,", "Right now, that yet mine heart is sore affright'.", "Now God,\" quoth he, \"my sweven read aright", "And keep my body out of foul prisoun.", "Me mette, how that I roamed up and down", "Within our yard, where as I saw a beast", "Was like an hound, and would have made arrest", "Upon my body, and would have had me dead.", "His colour was betwixt yellow and red;", "And tipped was his tail, and both his ears,", "With black, unlike the remnant of his hairs.", "His snout was small, with glowing eyen tway;", "Yet of his look almost for fear I dey;", "This caused me my groaning, doubteless.\"", "", "\"Away,\" quoth she, \"fy on you, hearteless!", "Alas!\" quoth she, \"for, by that God above!", "Now have ye lost my heart and all my love;", "I cannot love a coward, by my faith.", "For certes, what so any woman saith,", "We all desiren, if it mighte be,", "To have husbandes hardy, wise, and free,", "And secret, and no niggard nor no fool,", "Nor him that is aghast of every tool,", "Nor no avantour, by that God above!", "How durste ye for shame say to your love", "That anything might make you afear'd?", "Have ye no manne's heart, and have a beard?", "Alas! and can ye be aghast of swevenes?", "Nothing but vanity, God wot, in sweven is,", "Swevens engender of repletions,", "And oft of fume, and of complexions,", "When humours be too abundant in a wight.", "Certes this dream, which ye have mette tonight,", "Cometh of the great supefluity", "Of youre rede cholera, pardie,", "Which causeth folk to dreaden in their dreams", "Of arrows, and of fire with redde beams,", "Of redde beastes, that they will them bite,", "Of conteke, and of whelpes great and lite;", "Right as the humour of melancholy", "Causeth full many a man in sleep to cry,", "For fear of bulles, or of beares blake,", "Or elles that black devils will them take,", "Of other humours could I tell also,", "That worke many a man in sleep much woe;", "That I will pass as lightly as I can.", "Lo, Cato, which that was so wise a man,", "", "Now, Sir,\" quoth she, \"when we fly from these beams,", "For Godde's love, as take some laxatife;", "On peril of my soul, and of my life,", "I counsel you the best, I will not lie,", "That both of choler, and melancholy,", "Ye purge you; and, for ye shall not tarry,", "Though in this town is no apothecary,", "I shall myself two herbes teache you,", "That shall be for your health, and for your prow;", "And in our yard the herbes shall I find,", "The which have of their property by kind", "To purge you beneath, and eke above.", "Sire, forget not this for Godde's love;", "Ye be full choleric of complexion;", "Ware that the sun, in his ascension,", "You finde not replete of humours hot;", "And if it do, I dare well lay a groat,", "That ye shall have a fever tertiane,", "Or else an ague, that may be your bane,", "A day or two ye shall have digestives", "Of wormes, ere ye take your laxatives,", "Of laurel, centaury, and fumeterere,", "Or else of elder-berry, that groweth there,", "Of catapuce, or of the gaitre-berries,", "Or herb ivy growing in our yard, that merry is:", "Pick them right as they grow, and eat them in,", "Be merry, husband, for your father's kin;", "Dreade no dream; I can say you no more.\"", "", "\"Madame,\" quoth he, \"grand mercy of your lore,", "But natheless, as touching Dan Catoun,", "That hath of wisdom such a great renown,", "Though that he bade no dreames for to dread,", "By God, men may in olde bookes read", "Of many a man more of authority", "Than ever Cato was, so may I the,", "That all the reverse say of his sentence,", "And have well founden by experience", "That dreames be significations", "As well of joy, as tribulations", "That folk enduren in this life present.", "There needeth make of this no argument;", "The very preve sheweth it indeed.", "One of the greatest authors that men read", "Saith thus, that whilom two fellowes went", "On pilgrimage in a full good intent;", "And happen'd so, they came into a town", "Where there was such a congregatioun", "Of people, and eke so strait of herbergage,", "That they found not as much as one cottage", "In which they bothe might y-lodged be:", "Wherefore they musten of necessity,", "As for that night, departe company;", "And each of them went to his hostelry,", "And took his lodging as it woulde fall.", "The one of them was lodged in a stall,", "Far in a yard, with oxen of the plough;", "That other man was lodged well enow,", "As was his aventure, or his fortune,", "That us governeth all, as in commune.", "And so befell, that, long ere it were day,", "This man mette in his bed, there: as he lay,", "How that his fellow gan upon him call,", "And said, 'Alas! for in an ox's stall", "This night shall I be murder'd, where I lie", "Now help me, deare brother, or I die;", "In alle haste come to me,' he said.", "This man out of his sleep for fear abraid;", "But when that he was wak'd out of his sleep,", "He turned him, and took of this no keep;", "He thought his dream was but a vanity.", "Thus twies in his sleeping dreamed he,", "And at the thirde time yet his fellaw again", "Came, as he thought, and said, 'I am now slaw;", "Behold my bloody woundes, deep and wide.", "Arise up early, in the morning, tide,", "And at the west gate of the town,' quoth he,", "'A carte full of dung there shalt: thou see,", "In which my body is hid privily.", "Do thilke cart arroste boldely.", "My gold caused my murder, sooth to sayn.'", "And told him every point how he was slain,", "With a full piteous face, and pale of hue.", "", "\"And, truste well, his dream he found full true;", "For on the morrow, as soon as it was day,", "To his fellowes inn he took his way;", "And when that he came to this ox's stall,", "After his fellow he began to call.", "The hostelere answered him anon,", "And saide, 'Sir, your fellow is y-gone,", "As soon as day he went out of the town.'", "This man gan fallen in suspicioun,", "Rememb'ring on his dreames that he mette,", "And forth he went, no longer would he let,", "Unto the west gate of the town, and fand", "A dung cart, as it went for to dung land,", "That was arrayed in the same wise", "As ye have heard the deade man devise;", "And with an hardy heart he gan to cry,", "'Vengeance and justice of this felony:", "My fellow murder'd in this same night", "And in this cart he lies, gaping upright.", "I cry out on the ministers,' quoth he.", "'That shoulde keep and rule this city;", "Harow! alas! here lies my fellow slain.'", "What should I more unto this tale sayn?", "The people out start, and cast the cart to ground", "And in the middle of the dung they found", "The deade man, that murder'd was all new.", "O blissful God! that art so good and true,", "Lo, how that thou bewray'st murder alway.", "Murder will out, that see we day by day.", "Murder is so wlatsom and abominable", "To God, that is so just and reasonable,", "That he will not suffer it heled be;", "Though it abide a year, or two, or three,", "Murder will out, this is my conclusioun,", "And right anon, the ministers of the town", "Have hent the carter, and so sore him pined,", "And eke the hostelere so sore engined,", "That they beknew their wickedness anon,", "And were hanged by the necke bone.", "", "\"Here may ye see that dreames be to dread.", "And certes in the same book I read,", "Right in the nexte chapter after this", "(I gabbe not, so have I joy and bliss),", "Two men that would, have passed over sea,", "For certain cause, into a far country,", "If that the wind not hadde been contrary,", "That made them in a city for to tarry,", "That stood full merry upon an haven side;", "But on a day, against the even-tide,", "The wind gan change, and blew right as them lest.", "Jolly and glad they wente to their rest,", "And caste them full early for to sail.", "But to the one man fell a great marvail", "That one of them, in sleeping as he lay,", "He mette a wondrous dream, against the day:", "He thought a man stood by his bedde's side,", "And him commanded that he should abide;", "And said him thus; 'If thou to-morrow wend,", "Thou shalt be drown'd; my tale is at an end.'", "He woke, and told his follow what he mette,", "And prayed him his voyage for to let;", "As for that day, he pray'd him to abide.", "His fellow, that lay by his bedde's side,", "Gan for to laugh, and scorned him full fast.", "'No dream,' quoth he,'may so my heart aghast,", "That I will lette for to do my things.", "I sette not a straw by thy dreamings,", "For swevens be but vanities and japes.", "Men dream all day of owles and of apes,", "And eke of many a maze therewithal;", "Men dream of thing that never was, nor shall.", "But since I see, that thou wilt here abide,", "And thus forslothe wilfully thy tide,", "God wot, it rueth me; and have good day.'", "And thus he took his leave, and went his way.", "But, ere that he had half his course sail'd,", "I know not why, nor what mischance it ail'd,", "But casually the ship's bottom rent,", "And ship and man under the water went,", "In sight of other shippes there beside", "That with him sailed at the same tide.", "", "\"And therefore, faire Partelote so dear,", "By such examples olde may'st thou lear,", "That no man shoulde be too reckeless", "Of dreames, for I say thee doubteless,", "That many a dream full sore is for to dread.", "Lo, in the life of Saint Kenelm I read,", "That was Kenulphus' son, the noble king", "Of Mercenrike, how Kenelm mette a thing.", "A little ere he was murder'd on a day,", "His murder in his vision he say.", "His norice him expounded every deal", "His sweven, and bade him to keep him well", "For treason; but he was but seven years old,", "And therefore little tale hath he told", "Of any dream, so holy was his heart.", "By God, I hadde lever than my shirt", "That ye had read his legend, as have I.", "Dame Partelote, I say you truely,", "Macrobius, that wrote the vision", "In Afric' of the worthy Scipion,", "Affirmeth dreames, and saith that they be", "'Warnings of thinges that men after see.", "And furthermore, I pray you looke well", "In the Old Testament, of Daniel,", "If he held dreames any vanity.", "Read eke of Joseph, and there shall ye see", "Whether dreams be sometimes (I say not all)", "Warnings of thinges that shall after fall.", "Look of Egypt the king, Dan Pharaoh,", "His baker and his buteler also,", "Whether they felte none effect in dreams.", "Whoso will seek the acts of sundry remes", "May read of dreames many a wondrous thing.", "Lo Croesus, which that was of Lydia king,", "Mette he not that he sat upon a tree,", "Which signified he shoulde hanged be?", "Lo here, Andromache, Hectore's wife,", "That day that Hector shoulde lose his life,", "She dreamed on the same night beforn,", "How that the life of Hector should be lorn,", "If thilke day he went into battaile;", "She warned him, but it might not avail;", "He wente forth to fighte natheless,", "And was y-slain anon of Achilles.", "But thilke tale is all too long to tell;", "And eke it is nigh day, I may not dwell.", "Shortly I say, as for conclusion,", "That I shall have of this avision", "Adversity; and I say furthermore,", "That I ne tell of laxatives no store,", "For they be venomous, I wot it well;", "I them defy, I love them never a del.", "", "\"But let us speak of mirth, and stint all this;", "Madame Partelote, so have I bliss,", "Of one thing God hath sent me large grace;", "For when I see the beauty of your face,", "Ye be so scarlet-hued about your eyen,", "I maketh all my dreade for to dien,", "For, all so sicker as In principio,", "Mulier est hominis confusio.", "Madam, the sentence of of this Latin is,", "Woman is manne's joy and manne's bliss.", "For when I feel at night your softe side, --", "Albeit that I may not on you ride,", "For that our perch is made so narrow, Alas!", "I am so full of joy and of solas,", "That I defy both sweven and eke dream.\"", "And with that word he flew down from the beam,", "For it was day, and eke his hennes all;", "And with a chuck he gan them for to call,", "For he had found a corn, lay in the yard.", "Royal he was, he was no more afear'd;", "He feather'd Partelote twenty time,", "And as oft trode her, ere that it was prime.", "He looked as it were a grim lion,", "And on his toes he roamed up and down;", "He deigned not to set his feet to ground;", "He chucked, when he had a corn y-found,", "And to him ranne then his wives all.", "Thus royal, as a prince is in his hall,", "Leave I this Chanticleer in his pasture;", "And after will I tell his aventure.", "", "When that the month in which the world began,", "That highte March, when God first maked man,", "Was complete, and y-passed were also,", "Since March ended, thirty days and two,", "Befell that Chanticleer in all his pride,", "His seven wives walking him beside,", "Cast up his eyen to the brighte sun,", "That in the sign of Taurus had y-run", "Twenty degrees and one, and somewhat more;", "He knew by kind, and by none other lore,", "That it was prime, and crew with blissful steven.", "\"The sun,\" he said, \"is clomben up in heaven", "Twenty degrees and one, and more y-wis.", "Madame Partelote, my worlde's bliss,", "Hearken these blissful birdes how they sing,", "And see the freshe flowers how they spring;", "Full is mine heart of revel and solace.\"", "But suddenly him fell a sorrowful case;", "For ever the latter end of joy is woe:", "God wot that worldly joy is soon y-go:", "And, if a rhetor coulde fair indite,", "He in a chronicle might it safely write,", "As for a sov'reign notability", "Now every wise man, let him hearken me;", "This story is all as true, I undertake,", "As is the book of Launcelot du Lake,", "That women hold in full great reverence.", "Now will I turn again to my sentence.", "", "A col-fox, full of sly iniquity,", "That in the grove had wonned yeares three,", "By high imagination forecast,", "The same night thorough the hedges brast", "Into the yard, where Chanticleer the fair", "Was wont, and eke his wives, to repair;", "And in a bed of wortes still he lay,", "Till it was passed undern of the day,", "Waiting his time on Chanticleer to fall:", "As gladly do these homicides all,", "That in awaite lie to murder men.", "O false murd'rer! Rouking in thy den!", "O new Iscariot, new Ganilion!", "O false dissimuler, O Greek Sinon,", "That broughtest Troy all utterly to sorrow!", "O Chanticleer! accursed be the morrow", "That thou into thy yard flew from the beams;", "Thou wert full well y-warned by thy dreams", "That thilke day was perilous to thee.", "But what that God forewot must needes be,", "After th' opinion of certain clerkes.", "Witness on him that any perfect clerk is,", "That in school is great altercation", "In this matter, and great disputation,", "And hath been of an hundred thousand men.", "But I ne cannot boult it to the bren,", "As can the holy doctor Augustine,", "Or Boece, or the bishop Bradwardine,", "Whether that Godde's worthy foreweeting", "Straineth me needly for to do a thing", "(Needly call I simple necessity),", "Or elles if free choice be granted me", "To do that same thing, or do it not,", "Though God forewot it ere that it was wrought;", "Or if his weeting straineth never a deal,", "But by necessity conditionel.", "I will not have to do of such mattere;", "My tale is of a cock, as ye may hear,", "That took his counsel of his wife, with sorrow,", "To walken in the yard upon the morrow", "That he had mette the dream, as I you told.", "Womane's counsels be full often cold;", "Womane's counsel brought us first to woe,", "And made Adam from Paradise to go,", "There as he was full merry and well at case.", "But, for I n'ot to whom I might displease", "If I counsel of women woulde blame,", "Pass over, for I said it in my game.", "Read authors, where they treat of such mattere", "And what they say of women ye may hear.", "These be the cocke's wordes, and not mine;", "I can no harm of no woman divine.", "Fair in the sand, to bathe her merrily,", "Lies Partelote, and all her sisters by,", "Against the sun, and Chanticleer so free", "Sang merrier than the mermaid in the sea;", "For Physiologus saith sickerly,", "How that they singe well and merrily.", "And so befell that, as he cast his eye", "Among the wortes, on a butterfly,", "He was ware of this fox that lay full low.", "Nothing ne list him thenne for to crow,", "But cried anon \"Cock! cock!\" and up he start,", "As man that was affrayed in his heart.", "For naturally a beast desireth flee", "From his contrary, if be may it see,", "Though he ne'er erst had soon it with his eye", "This Chanticleer, when he gan him espy,", "He would have fled, but that the fox anon", "Said, \"Gentle Sir, alas! why will ye gon?", "Be ye afraid of me that am your friend?", "Now, certes, I were worse than any fiend,", "If I to you would harm or villainy.", "I am not come your counsel to espy.", "But truely the cause of my coming", "Was only for to hearken how ye sing;", "For truely ye have as merry a steven,", "As any angel hath that is in heaven;", "Therewith ye have of music more feeling,", "Than had Boece, or any that can sing.", "My lord your father (God his soule bless)", "And eke your mother of her gentleness,", "Have in mnine house been, to my great ease:", "And certes, Sir, full fain would I you please.", "But, for men speak of singing, I will say,", "So may I brooke well mine eyen tway,", "Save you, I hearde never man so sing", "As did your father in the morrowning.", "Certes it was of heart all that he sung.", "And, for to make his voice the more strong,", "He would so pain him, that with both his eyen", "He muste wink, so loud he woulde cryen,", "And standen on his tiptoes therewithal,", "And stretche forth his necke long and small.", "And eke he was of such discretion,", "That there was no man, in no region,", "That him in song or wisdom mighte pass.", "I have well read in Dan Burnel the Ass,", "Among his verse, how that there was a cock", "That, for a prieste's son gave him a knock", "Upon his leg, while he was young and nice,", "He made him for to lose his benefice.", "But certain there is no comparison", "Betwixt the wisdom and discretion", "Of youre father, and his subtilty.", "Now singe, Sir, for sainte charity,", "Let see, can ye your father counterfeit?\"", "", "This Chanticleer his wings began to beat,", "As man that could not his treason espy,", "So was he ravish'd with his flattery.", "Alas! ye lordes, many a false flattour", "Is in your court, and many a losengeour,", "That please you well more, by my faith,", "Than he that soothfastness unto you saith.", "Read in Ecclesiast' of flattery;", "Beware, ye lordes, of their treachery.", "This Chanticleer stood high upon his toes,", "Stretching his neck, and held his eyen close,", "And gan to crowe loude for the nonce", "And Dan Russel the fox start up at once,", "And by the gorge hente Chanticleer,", "And on his back toward the wood him bare.", "For yet was there no man that him pursu'd.", "O destiny, that may'st not be eschew'd!", "Alas, that Chanticleer flew from the beams!", "Alas, his wife raughte nought of dreams!", "And on a Friday fell all this mischance.", "O Venus, that art goddess of pleasance,", "Since that thy servant was this Chanticleer", "And in thy service did all his powere,", "More for delight, than the world to multiply,", "Why wilt thou suffer him on thy day to die?", "O Gaufrid, deare master sovereign,", "That, when thy worthy king Richard was slain", "With shot, complainedest his death so sore,", "Why n'had I now thy sentence and thy lore,", "The Friday for to chiden, as did ye?", "(For on a Friday, soothly, slain was he),", "Then would I shew you how that I could plain", "For Chanticleere's dread, and for his pain.", "", "Certes such cry nor lamentation", "Was ne'er of ladies made, when Ilion", "Was won, and Pyrrhus with his straighte sword,", "When he had hent king Priam by the beard,", "And slain him (as saith us Eneidos),", "As maden all the hennes in the close,", "When they had seen of Chanticleer the sight.", "But sov'reignly Dame Partelote shright,", "Full louder than did Hasdrubale's wife,", "When that her husband hadde lost his life,", "And that the Romans had y-burnt Carthage;", "She was so full of torment and of rage,", "That wilfully into the fire she start,", "And burnt herselfe with a steadfast heart.", "O woeful hennes! right so cried ye,", "As, when that Nero burned the city", "Of Rome, cried the senatores' wives,", "For that their husbands losten all their lives;", "Withoute guilt this Nero hath them slain.", "Now will I turn unto my tale again;", "", "The sely widow, and her daughters two,", "Hearde these hennes cry and make woe,", "And at the doors out started they anon,", "And saw the fox toward the wood is gone,", "And bare upon his back the cock away:", "They cried, \"Out! harow! and well-away!", "Aha! the fox!\" and after him they ran,", "And eke with staves many another man", "Ran Coll our dog, and Talbot, and Garland;", "And Malkin, with her distaff in her hand", "Ran cow and calf, and eke the very hogges", "So fear'd they were for barking of the dogges,", "And shouting of the men and women eke.", "They ranne so, them thought their hearts would break.", "They yelled as the fiendes do in hell;", "The duckes cried as men would them quell;", "The geese for feare flewen o'er the trees,", "Out of the hive came the swarm of bees,", "So hideous was the noise, ben'dicite!", "Certes he, Jacke Straw, and his meinie,", "Ne made never shoutes half so shrill", "When that they woulden any Fleming kill,", "As thilke day was made upon the fox.", "Of brass they broughte beames and of box,", "Of horn and bone, in which they blew and pooped,", "And therewithal they shrieked and they hooped;", "It seemed as the heaven shoulde fall", "", "Now, goode men, I pray you hearken all;", "Lo, how Fortune turneth suddenly", "The hope and pride eke of her enemy.", "This cock, that lay upon the fox's back,", "In all his dread unto the fox he spake,", "And saide, \"Sir, if that I were as ye,", "Yet would I say (as wisly God help me),", "'Turn ye again, ye proude churles all;", "A very pestilence upon you fall.", "Now am I come unto the woode's side,", "Maugre your head, the cock shall here abide;", "I will him eat, in faith, and that anon.'\"", "The fox answer'd, \"In faith it shall be done:\"", "And, as he spake the word, all suddenly", "The cock brake from his mouth deliverly,", "And high upon a tree he flew anon.", "And when the fox saw that the cock was gone,", "\"Alas!\" quoth he, \"O Chanticleer, alas!", "I have,\" quoth he, \"y-done to you trespass,", "Inasmuch as I maked you afear'd,", "When I you hent, and brought out of your yard;", "But, Sir, I did it in no wick' intent;", "Come down, and I shall tell you what I meant.", "I shall say sooth to you, God help me so.\"", "\"Nay then,\" quoth he, \"I shrew us both the two,", "And first I shrew myself, both blood and bones,", "If thou beguile me oftener than once.", "Thou shalt no more through thy flattery", "Do me to sing and winke with mine eye;", "For he that winketh when he shoulde see,", "All wilfully, God let him never the.\"", "\"Nay,\" quoth the fox; \"but God give him mischance", "That is so indiscreet of governance,", "That jangleth when that he should hold his peace.\"", "", "Lo, what it is for to be reckeless", "And negligent, and trust on flattery.", "But ye that holde this tale a folly,", "As of a fox, or of a cock or hen,", "Take the morality thereof, good men.", "For Saint Paul saith, That all that written is,", "To our doctrine it written is y-wis.", "Take the fruit, and let the chaff be still.", "", "Now goode God, if that it be thy will,", "As saith my Lord, so make us all good men;", "And bring us all to thy high bliss. Amen.", "", "THE EPILOGUE", "", "\"Sir Nunne's Priest,\" our hoste said anon,", "\"Y-blessed be thy breech, and every stone;", "This was a merry tale of Chanticleer.", "But by my truth, if thou wert seculere,", "Thou wouldest be a treadefowl aright;", "For if thou have courage as thou hast might,", "Thee were need of hennes, as I ween,", "Yea more than seven times seventeen.", "See, whate brawnes hath this gentle priest,", "So great a neck, and such a large breast", "He looketh as a sperhawk with his eyen", "Him needeth not his colour for to dyen", "With Brazil, nor with grain of Portugale.", "But, Sir, faire fall you for your tale'.\"", "And, after that, he with full merry cheer", "Said to another, as ye shall hear." ], "linecount": "698" }, { "title": "Troilus and Criseyde: Book I", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "", "The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen,", "That was the king Priamus sone of Troye,", "In lovinge, how his aventures fellen", "Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye,", "My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.", "Thesiphone, thou help me for tendyte", "Thise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte!", "", "To thee clepe I, thou goddesse of torment,", "Thou cruel Furie, sorwing ever in peyne;", "Help me, that am the sorwful instrument", "That helpeth lovers, as I can, to pleyne!", "For wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,", "A woful wight to han a drery fere,", "And, to a sorwful tale, a sory chere.", "", "For I, that god of Loves servaunts serve,", "Ne dar to Love, for myn unlyklinesse,", "Preyen for speed, al sholde I therfor sterve,", "So fer am I fro his help in derknesse;", "But nathelees, if this may doon gladnesse", "To any lover, and his cause avayle,", "Have he my thank, and myn be this travayle!", "", "But ye loveres, that bathen in gladnesse,", "If any drope of pitee in yow be,", "Remembreth yow on passed hevinesse", "That ye han felt, and on the adversitee", "Of othere folk, and thenketh how that ye", "Han felt that Love dorste yow displese;", "Or ye han wonne hym with to greet an ese.", "", "And preyeth for hem that ben in the cas", "Of Troilus, as ye may after here,", "That love hem bringe in hevene to solas,", "And eek for me preyeth to god so dere,", "That I have might to shewe, in som manere,", "Swich peyne and wo as Loves folk endure,", "In Troilus unsely aventure.", "", "And biddeth eek for hem that been despeyred", "In love, that never nil recovered be,", "And eek for hem that falsly been apeyred", "Thorugh wikked tonges, be it he or she;", "Thus biddeth god, for his benignitee,", "So graunte hem sone out of this world to pace,", "That been despeyred out of Loves grace.", "", "And biddeth eek for hem that been at ese,", "That god hem graunte ay good perseveraunce,", "And sende hem might hir ladies so to plese,", "That it to Love be worship and plesaunce.", "For so hope I my soule best avaunce,", "To preye for hem that Loves servaunts be,", "And wryte hir wo, and live in charitee.", "", "And for to have of hem compassioun", "As though I were hir owene brother dere.", "Now herkeneth with a gode entencioun,", "For now wol I gon streight to my matere,", "In whiche ye may the double sorwes here", "Of Troilus, in loving of Criseyde,", "And how that she forsook him er she deyde.", "", "It is wel wist, how that the Grekes stronge", "In armes with a thousand shippes wente", "To Troyewardes, and the citee longe", "Assegeden neigh ten yeer er they stente,", "And, in diverse wyse and oon entente,", "The ravisshing to wreken of Eleyne,", "By Paris doon, they wroughten al hir peyne.", "", "Now fil it so, that in the toun ther was", "Dwellinge a lord of greet auctoritee,", "A gret devyn that cleped was Calkas,", "That in science so expert was, that he", "Knew wel that Troye sholde destroyed be,", "By answere of his god, that highte thus,", "Daun Phebus or Apollo Delphicus.", "", "So whan this Calkas knew by calculinge,", "And eek by answere of this Appollo,", "That Grekes sholden swich a peple bringe,", "Thorugh which that Troye moste been for-do,", "He caste anoon out of the toun to go;", "For wel wiste he, by sort, that Troye sholde", "Destroyed ben, ye, wolde who-so nolde.", "", "For which, for to departen softely", "Took purpos ful this forknowinge wyse,", "And to the Grekes ost ful prively", "He stal anoon; and they, in curteys wyse,", "Hym deden bothe worship and servyse,", "In trust that he hath conning hem to rede", "In every peril which that is to drede.", "", "The noyse up roos, whan it was first aspyed,", "Thorugh al the toun, and generally was spoken,", "That Calkas traytor fled was, and allyed", "With hem of Grece; and casten to ben wroken", "On him that falsly hadde his feith so broken;", "And seyden, he and al his kin at ones", "Ben worthy for to brennen, fel and bones.", "", "Now hadde Calkas left, in this meschaunce,", "Al unwist of this false and wikked dede,", "His doughter, which that was in gret penaunce,", "For of hir lyf she was ful sore in drede,", "As she that niste what was best to rede;", "For bothe a widowe was she, and allone", "Of any freend to whom she dorste hir mone.", "", "Criseyde was this lady name a-right;", "As to my dome, in al Troyes citee", "Nas noon so fair, for passing every wight", "So aungellyk was hir natyf beautee,", "That lyk a thing immortal semed she,", "As doth an hevenish parfit creature,", "That doun were sent in scorning of nature.", "", "This lady, which that al-day herde at ere", "Hir fadres shame, his falsnesse and tresoun,", "Wel nigh out of hir wit for sorwe and fere,", "In widewes habit large of samit broun,", "On knees she fil biforn Ector a-doun;", "With pitous voys, and tendrely wepinge,", "His mercy bad, hir-selven excusinge.", "", "Now was this Ector pitous of nature,", "And saw that she was sorwfully bigoon,", "And that she was so fair a creature;", "Of his goodnesse he gladed hir anoon,", "And seyde, `Lat your fadres treson goon", "Forth with mischaunce, and ye your-self, in Ioye,", "Dwelleth with us, whyl you good list, in Troye.", "", "`And al thonour that men may doon yow have,", "As ferforth as your fader dwelled here,", "Ye shul han, and your body shal men save,", "As fer as I may ought enquere or here.'", "And she him thonked with ful humble chere,", "And ofter wolde, and it hadde ben his wille,", "And took hir leve, and hoom, and held hir stille.", "", "And in hir hous she abood with swich meynee", "As to hir honour nede was to holde;", "And whyl she was dwellinge in that citee,", "Kepte hir estat, and bothe of yonge and olde", "Ful wel beloved, and wel men of hir tolde.", "But whether that she children hadde or noon,", "I rede it naught; therfore I late it goon.", "", "The thinges fellen, as they doon of werre,", "Bitwixen hem of Troye and Grekes ofte;", "For som day boughten they of Troye it derre,", "And eft the Grekes founden no thing softe", "The folk of Troye; and thus fortune on-lofte,", "And under eft, gan hem to wheelen bothe", "After hir cours, ay whyl they were wrothe.", "", "But how this toun com to destruccioun", "Ne falleth nought to purpos me to telle;", "For it were a long digressioun", "Fro my matere, and yow to longe dwelle.", "But the Troyane gestes, as they felle,", "In Omer, or in Dares, or in Dyte,", "Who-so that can, may rede hem as they wryte.", "", "But though that Grekes hem of Troye shetten,", "And hir citee bisegede al a-boute,", "Hir olde usage wolde they not letten,", "As for to honoure hir goddes ful devoute;", "But aldermost in honour, out of doute,", "They hadde a relik hight Palladion,", "That was hir trist a-boven everichon.", "", "And so bifel, whan comen was the tyme", "Of Aperil, whan clothed is the mede", "With newe grene, of lusty Ver the pryme,", "And swote smellen floures whyte and rede,", "In sondry wyses shewed, as I rede,", "The folk of Troye hir observaunces olde,", "Palladiones feste for to holde.", "", "And to the temple, in al hir beste wyse,", "In general, ther wente many a wight,", "To herknen of Palladion servyse;", "And namely, so many a lusty knight,", "So many a lady fresh and mayden bright,", "Ful wel arayed, bothe moste and leste,", "Ye, bothe for the seson and the feste.", "", "Among thise othere folk was Criseyda,", "In widewes habite blak; but nathelees,", "Right as our firste lettre is now an A,", "In beautee first so stood she, makelees;", "Hir godly looking gladede al the prees.", "Nas never seyn thing to ben preysed derre,", "Nor under cloude blak so bright a sterre", "", "As was Criseyde, as folk seyde everichoon", "That hir behelden in hir blake wede;", "And yet she stood ful lowe and stille alloon,", "Bihinden othere folk, in litel brede,", "And neigh the dore, ay under shames drede,", "Simple of a-tyr, and debonaire of chere,", "With ful assured loking and manere.", "", "This Troilus, as he was wont to gyde", "His yonge knightes, ladde hem up and doun", "In thilke large temple on every syde,", "Biholding ay the ladyes of the toun,", "Now here, now there, for no devocioun", "Hadde he to noon, to reven him his reste,", "But gan to preyse and lakken whom him leste.", "", "And in his walk ful fast he gan to wayten", "If knight or squyer of his companye", "Gan for to syke, or lete his eyen bayten", "On any woman that he coude aspye;", "He wolde smyle, and holden it folye,", "And seye him thus, `god wot, she slepeth softe", "For love of thee, whan thou tornest ful ofte!", "", "`I have herd told, pardieux, of your livinge,", "Ye lovers, and your lewede observaunces,", "And which a labour folk han in winninge", "Of love, and, in the keping, which doutaunces;", "And whan your preye is lost, wo and penaunces;", "O verrey foles! nyce and blinde be ye;", "Ther nis not oon can war by other be.'", "", "And with that word he gan cast up the browe,", "Ascaunces, `Lo! is this nought wysly spoken?'", "At which the god of love gan loken rowe", "Right for despyt, and shoop for to ben wroken;", "He kidde anoon his bowe nas not broken;", "For sodeynly he hit him at the fulle;", "And yet as proud a pekok can he pulle.", "", "O blinde world, O blinde entencioun!", "How ofte falleth al theffect contraire", "Of surquidrye and foul presumpcioun;", "For caught is proud, and caught is debonaire.", "This Troilus is clomben on the staire,", "And litel weneth that he moot descenden.", "But al-day falleth thing that foles ne wenden.", "", "As proude Bayard ginneth for to skippe", "Out of the wey, so priketh him his corn,", "Til he a lash have of the longe whippe,", "Than thenketh he, `Though I praunce al biforn", "First in the trays, ful fat and newe shorn,", "Yet am I but an hors, and horses lawe", "I moot endure, and with my feres drawe.'", "", "So ferde it by this fers and proude knight;", "Though he a worthy kinges sone were,", "And wende nothing hadde had swiche might", "Ayens his wil that sholde his herte stere,", "Yet with a look his herte wex a-fere,", "That he, that now was most in pryde above,", "Wex sodeynly most subget un-to love.", "", "For-thy ensample taketh of this man,", "Ye wyse, proude, and worthy folkes alle,", "To scornen Love, which that so sone can", "The freedom of your hertes to him thralle;", "For ever it was, and ever it shal bifalle,", "That Love is he that alle thing may binde;", "For may no man for-do the lawe of kinde.", "", "That this be sooth, hath preved and doth yet;", "For this trowe I ye knowen, alle or some,", "Men reden not that folk han gretter wit", "Than they that han be most with love y-nome;", "And strengest folk ben therwith overcome,", "The worthiest and grettest of degree:", "This was, and is, and yet men shal it see.", "", "And trewelich it sit wel to be so;", "For alderwysest han ther-with ben plesed;", "And they that han ben aldermost in wo,", "With love han ben conforted most and esed;", "And ofte it hath the cruel herte apesed,", "And worthy folk maad worthier of name,", "And causeth most to dreden vyce and shame.", "", "Now sith it may not goodly be withstonde,", "And is a thing so vertuous in kinde,", "Refuseth not to Love for to be bonde,", "Sin, as him-selven list, he may yow binde.", "The yerde is bet that bowen wole and winde", "Than that that brest; and therfor I yow rede", "To folwen him that so wel can yow lede.", "", "But for to tellen forth in special", "As of this kinges sone of which I tolde,", "And leten other thing collateral,", "Of him thenke I my tale for to holde,", "Both of his Ioye, and of his cares colde;", "And al his werk, as touching this matere,", "For I it gan, I wol ther-to refere.", "", "With-inne the temple he wente him forth pleyinge,", "This Troilus, of every wight aboute,", "On this lady and now on that lokinge,", "Wher-so she were of toune, or of with-oute:", "And up-on cas bifel, that thorugh a route", "His eye perced, and so depe it wente,", "Til on Criseyde it smoot, and ther it stente.", "", "And sodeynly he wax ther-with astoned,", "And gan hire bet biholde in thrifty wyse:", "`O mercy, god!' thoughte he, `wher hastow woned,", "That art so fair and goodly to devyse?'", "Ther-with his herte gan to sprede and ryse,", "And softe sighed, lest men mighte him here,", "And caughte a-yein his firste pleyinge chere.", "", "She nas nat with the leste of hir stature,", "But alle hir limes so wel answeringe", "Weren to womanhode, that creature", "Was neuer lasse mannish in seminge.", "And eek the pure wyse of here meninge", "Shewede wel, that men might in hir gesse", "Honour, estat, and wommanly noblesse.", "", "To Troilus right wonder wel with-alle", "Gan for to lyke hir meninge and hir chere,", "Which somdel deynous was, for she leet falle", "Hir look a lite a-side, in swich manere,", "Ascaunces, `What! May I not stonden here?'", "And after that hir loking gan she lighte,", "That never thoughte him seen so good a sighte.", "", "And of hir look in him ther gan to quiken", "So greet desir, and swich affeccioun,", "That in his herte botme gan to stiken", "Of hir his fixe and depe impressioun:", "And though he erst hadde poured up and doun,", "He was tho glad his hornes in to shrinke;", "Unnethes wiste he how to loke or winke.", "", "Lo, he that leet him-selven so konninge,", "And scorned hem that loves peynes dryen,", "Was ful unwar that love hadde his dwellinge", "With-inne the subtile stremes of hir yen;", "That sodeynly him thoughte he felte dyen,", "Right with hir look, the spirit in his herte;", "Blissed be love, that thus can folk converte!", "", "She, this in blak, likinge to Troylus,", "Over alle thyng, he stood for to biholde;", "Ne his desir, ne wherfor he stood thus,", "He neither chere made, ne worde tolde;", "But from a-fer, his maner for to holde,", "On other thing his look som-tyme he caste,", "And eft on hir, whyl that servyse laste.", "", "And after this, not fulliche al awhaped,", "Out of the temple al esiliche he wente,", "Repentinge him that he hadde ever y-iaped", "Of loves folk, lest fully the descente", "Of scorn fille on him-self; but, what he mente,", "Lest it were wist on any maner syde,", "His wo he gan dissimulen and hyde.", "", "Whan he was fro the temple thus departed,", "He streyght anoon un-to his paleys torneth,", "Right with hir look thurgh-shoten and thurgh-darted, 325", "Al feyneth he in lust that he soiorneth;", "And al his chere and speche also he borneth;", "And ay, of loves servants every whyle,", "Him-self to wrye, at hem he gan to smyle.", "", "And seyde, `Lord, so ye live al in lest,", "Ye loveres! For the conningest of yow,", "That serveth most ententiflich and best,", "Him tit as often harm ther-of as prow;", "Your hyre is quit ayein, ye, god wot how!", "Nought wel for wel, but scorn for good servyse;", "In feith, your ordre is ruled in good wyse!", "", "`In noun-certeyn ben alle your observaunces,", "But it a sely fewe poyntes be;", "Ne no-thing asketh so grete attendaunces", "As doth youre lay, and that knowe alle ye;", "But that is not the worste, as mote I thee;", "But, tolde I yow the worste poynt, I leve,", "Al seyde I sooth, ye wolden at me greve!", "", "`But tak this, that ye loveres ofte eschuwe,", "Or elles doon of good entencioun,", "Ful ofte thy lady wole it misconstrue,", "And deme it harm in hir opinioun;", "And yet if she, for other enchesoun,", "Be wrooth, than shalt thou han a groyn anoon:", "Lord! wel is him that may be of yow oon!'", "", "But for al this, whan that he say his tyme,", "He held his pees, non other bote him gayned;", "For love bigan his fetheres so to lyme,", "That wel unnethe un-to his folk he fayned", "That othere besye nedes him destrayned;", "For wo was him, that what to doon he niste,", "But bad his folk to goon wher that hem liste.", "", "And whan that he in chaumbre was allone,", "He doun up-on his beddes feet him sette,", "And first be gan to syke, and eft to grone,", "And thoughte ay on hir so, with-outen lette,", "That, as he sat and wook, his spirit mette", "That he hir saw a temple, and al the wyse", "Right of hir loke, and gan it newe avyse.", "", "Thus gan he make a mirour of his minde,", "In which he saugh al hoolly hir figure;", "And that he wel coude in his herte finde,", "It was to him a right good aventure", "To love swich oon, and if he dide his cure", "To serven hir, yet mighte he falle in grace,", "Or elles, for oon of hir servaunts pace.", "", "Imagininge that travaille nor grame", "Ne mighte, for so goodly oon, be lorn", "As she, ne him for his desir ne shame,", "Al were it wist, but in prys and up-born", "Of alle lovers wel more than biforn;", "Thus argumented he in his ginninge,", "Ful unavysed of his wo cominge.", "", "Thus took he purpos loves craft to suwe,", "And thoughte he wolde werken prively,", "First, to hyden his desir in muwe", "From every wight y-born, al-outrely,", "But he mighte ought recovered be therby;", "Remembring him, that love to wyde y-blowe", "Yelt bittre fruyt, though swete seed be sowe.", "", "And over al this, yet muchel more he thoughte", "What for to speke, and what to holden inne,", "And what to arten hir to love he soughte,", "And on a song anoon-right to biginne,", "And gan loude on his sorwe for to winne;", "For with good hope he gan fully assente", "Criseyde for to love, and nought repente.", "", "And of his song nought only the sentence,", "As writ myn autour called Lollius,", "But pleynly, save our tonges difference,", "I dar wel sayn, in al that Troilus", "Seyde in his song, lo! every word right thus", "As I shal seyn; and who-so list it here,", "Lo! next this vers, he may it finden here.", "", "Cantus Troili.", "", "`If no love is, O god, what fele I so?", "And if love is, what thing and whiche is he!", "If love be good, from whennes comth my wo?", "If it be wikke, a wonder thinketh me,", "Whenne every torment and adversitee", "That cometh of him, may to me savory thinke;", "For ay thurst I, the more that I it drinke.", "", "`And if that at myn owene lust I brenne,", "Fro whennes cometh my wailing and my pleynte?", "If harme agree me, wher-to pleyne I thenne?", "I noot, ne why unwery that I feynte.", "O quike deeth, O swete harm so queynte,", "How may of thee in me swich quantitee,", "But-if that I consente that it be?", "", "`And if that I consente, I wrongfully", "Compleyne, y-wis; thus possed to and fro,", "Al sterelees with inne a boot am I", "A-mid the see, by-twixen windes two,", "That in contrarie stonden ever-mo.", "Allas! what is this wonder maladye?", "For hete of cold, for cold of hete, I deye.'", "", "And to the god of love thus seyde he", "With pitous voys, `O lord, now youres is", "My spirit, which that oughte youres be.", "Yow thanke I, lord, that han me brought to this;", "But whether goddesse or womman, y-wis,", "She be, I noot, which that ye do me serve;", "But as hir man I wole ay live and sterve.", "", "`Ye stonden in hire eyen mightily,", "As in a place un-to youre vertu digne;", "Wherfore, lord, if my servyse or I", "May lyke yow, so beth to me benigne;", "For myn estat royal here I resigne", "In-to hir hond, and with ful humble chere", "Bicome hir man, as to my lady dere.'", "", "In him ne deyned sparen blood royal", "The fyr of love, wher-fro god me blesse,", "Ne him forbar in no degree, for al", "His vertu or his excellent prowesse;", "But held him as his thral lowe in distresse,", "And brende him so in sondry wyse ay newe,", "That sixty tyme a day he loste his hewe.", "", "So muche, day by day, his owene thought,", "For lust to hir, gan quiken and encrese,", "That every other charge he sette at nought;", "For-thy ful ofte, his hote fyr to cese,", "To seen hir goodly look he gan to prese;", "For ther-by to ben esed wel he wende,", "And ay the ner he was, the more he brende.", "", "For ay the ner the fyr, the hotter is,", "This, trowe I, knoweth al this companye.", "But were he fer or neer, I dar seye this,", "By night or day, for wisdom or folye,", "His herte, which that is his brestes ye,", "Was ay on hir, that fairer was to sene", "Than ever were Eleyne or Polixene.", "", "Eek of the day ther passed nought an houre", "That to him-self a thousand tyme he seyde,", "`Good goodly, to whom serve I and laboure,", "As I best can, now wolde god, Criseyde,", "Ye wolden on me rewe er that I deyde!", "My dere herte, allas! myn hele and hewe", "And lyf is lost, but ye wole on me rewe.'", "", "Alle othere dredes weren from him fledde,", "Both of the assege and his savacioun;", "Ne in him desyr noon othere fownes bredde", "But argumentes to his conclusioun,", "That she on him wolde han compassioun,", "And he to be hir man, whyl he may dure;", "Lo, here his lyf, and from the deeth his cure!", "", "The sharpe shoures felle of armes preve,", "That Ector or his othere bretheren diden,", "Ne made him only ther-fore ones meve;", "And yet was he, wher-so men wente or riden,", "Founde oon the beste, and lengest tyme abiden", "Ther peril was, and dide eek such travayle", "In armes, that to thenke it was mervayle.", "", "But for non hate he to the Grekes hadde,", "Ne also for the rescous of the toun,", "Ne made him thus in armes for to madde,", "But only, lo, for this conclusioun,", "To lyken hir the bet for his renoun;", "Fro day to day in armes so he spedde,", "That alle the Grekes as the deeth him dredde.", "", "And fro this forth tho refte him love his sleep,", "And made his mete his foo; and eek his sorwe", "Gan multiplye, that, who-so toke keep,", "It shewed in his hewe, bothe eve and morwe;", "Therfor a title he gan him for to borwe", "Of other syknesse, lest of him men wende", "That the hote fyr of love him brende,", "", "And seyde, he hadde a fever and ferde amis;", "But how it was, certayn, can I not seye,", "If that his lady understood not this,", "Or feyned hir she niste, oon of the tweye;", "But wel I rede that, by no maner weye,", "Ne semed it as that she of him roughte,", "Nor of his peyne, or what-so-ever he thoughte.", "", "But than fel to this Troylus such wo,", "That he was wel neigh wood; for ay his drede", "Was this, that she som wight had loved so,", "That never of him she wolde have taken hede;", "For whiche him thoughte he felte his herte blede.", "Ne of his wo ne dorste he not biginne", "To tellen it, for al this world to winne.", "", "But whanne he hadde a space fro his care,", "Thus to him-self ful ofte he gan to pleyne;", "He sayde, `O fool, now art thou in the snare,", "That whilom Iapedest at loves peyne;", "Now artow hent, now gnaw thyn owene cheyne;", "Thou were ay wont eche lovere reprehende", "Of thing fro which thou canst thee nat defende.", "", "`What wol now every lover seyn of thee,", "If this be wist, but ever in thyn absence", "Laughen in scorn, and seyn, `Lo, ther gooth he,", "That is the man of so gret sapience,", "That held us lovers leest in reverence!", "Now, thonked be god, he may goon in the daunce", "Of hem that Love list febly for to avaunce!'", "", "`But, O thou woful Troilus, god wolde,", "Sin thou most loven thurgh thi destinee,", "That thow beset were on swich oon that sholde", "Knowe al thy wo, al lakkede hir pitee:", "But al so cold in love, towardes thee,", "Thy lady is, as frost in winter mone,", "And thou fordoon, as snow in fyr is sone.'", "", "`God wolde I were aryved in the port", "Of deth, to which my sorwe wil me lede!", "A, lord, to me it were a gret comfort;", "Than were I quit of languisshing in drede.", "For by myn hidde sorwe y-blowe on brede", "I shal bi-Iaped been a thousand tyme", "More than that fool of whos folye men ryme.", "", "`But now help god, and ye, swete, for whom", "I pleyne, y-caught, ye, never wight so faste!", "O mercy, dere herte, and help me from", "The deeth, for I, whyl that my lyf may laste,", "More than my-self wol love yow to my laste.", "And with som freendly look gladeth me, swete,", "Though never more thing ye me bi-hete!'", "", "This wordes and ful manye an-other to", "He spak, and called ever in his compleynte", "Hir name, for to tellen hir his wo,", "Til neigh that he in salte teres dreynte.", "Al was for nought, she herde nought his pleynte;", "And whan that he bithoughte on that folye,", "A thousand fold his wo gan multiplye.", "", "Bi-wayling in his chambre thus allone,", "A freend of his, that called was Pandare,", "Com ones in unwar, and herde him grone,", "And say his freend in swich distresse and care:", "`Allas!' quod he, `who causeth al this fare?", "O mercy, god! What unhap may this mene?", "Han now thus sone Grekes maad yow lene?", "", "`Or hastow som remors of conscience,", "And art now falle in som devocioun,", "And waylest for thy sinne and thyn offence,", "And hast for ferde caught attricioun?", "God save hem that bi-seged han our toun,", "And so can leye our Iolyte on presse,", "And bring our lusty folk to holinesse!'", "", "These wordes seyde he for the nones alle,", "That with swich thing he mighte him angry maken,", "And with an angre don his sorwe falle,", "As for the tyme, and his corage awaken;", "But wel he wist, as fer as tonges spaken,", "Ther nas a man of gretter hardinesse", "Than he, ne more desired worthinesse.", "", "`What cas,' quod Troilus, `or what aventure", "Hath gyded thee to see my languisshinge,", "That am refus of euery creature?", "But for the love of god, at my preyinge,", "Go henne a-way, for certes, my deyinge", "Wol thee disese, and I mot nedes deye;", "Ther-for go wey, ther is no more to seye.", "", "`But if thou wene I be thus sik for drede,", "It is not so, and ther-for scorne nought;", "Ther is a-nother thing I take of hede", "Wel more than ought the Grekes han y-wrought,", "Which cause is of my deeth, for sorwe and thought.", "But though that I now telle thee it ne leste,", "Be thou nought wrooth; I hyde it for the beste.'", "", "This Pandare, that neigh malt for wo and routhe,", "Ful often seyde, `Allas! what may this be?", "Now freend,' quod he, `if ever love or trouthe", "Hath been, or is, bi-twixen thee and me,", "Ne do thou never swiche a crueltee", "To hyde fro thy freend so greet a care;", "Wostow nought wel that it am I, Pandare?", "", "`I wole parten with thee al thy peyne,", "If it be so I do thee no comfort,", "As it is freendes right, sooth for to seyne,", "To entreparten wo, as glad desport.", "I have, and shal, for trewe or fals report,", "In wrong and right y-loved thee al my lyve;", "Hyd not thy wo fro me, but telle it blyve.'", "", "Than gan this sorwful Troilus to syke,", "And seyde him thus, \"God leve it be my beste", "To telle it thee; for sith it may thee lyke,", "Yet wole I telle it, though myn herte breste;", "And wel wot I thou mayst do me no reste.", "But lest thow deme I truste not to thee,", "Now herkne, freend, for thus it stant with me.", "", "`Love, a-yeins the which who-so defendeth", "Him-selven most, him alder-lest avayleth,", "With disespeir so sorwfully me offendeth,", "That streyght un-to the deeth myn herte sayleth.", "Ther-to desyr so brenningly me assaylleth,", "That to ben slayn it were a gretter Ioye", "To me than king of Grece been and Troye!", "", "`Suffiseth this, my fulle freend Pandare,", "That I have seyd, for now wostow my wo;", "And for the love of god, my colde care", "So hyd it wel, I telle it never to mo;", "For harmes mighte folwen, mo than two,", "If it were wist; but be thou in gladnesse,", "And lat me sterve, unknowe, of my distresse.'", "", "`How hastow thus unkindely and longe", "Hid this fro me, thou fool?' quod Pandarus;", "`Paraunter thou might after swich oon longe,", "That myn avys anoon may helpen us.'", "`This were a wonder thing,' quod Troylus,", "`Thou coudest never in love thy-selven wisse;", "How devel maystow bringen me to blisse?'", "", "`Ye, Troilus, now herke,' quod Pandare,", "`Though I be nyce; it happeth ofte so,", "That oon that exces doth ful yvele fare,", "By good counseyl can kepe his freend ther-fro.", "I have my-self eek seyn a blind man go", "Ther-as he fel that coude loke wyde;", "A fool may eek a wys man ofte gyde.", "", "`A whetston is no kerving instrument,", "And yet it maketh sharpe kerving-tolis.", "And ther thou woost that I have ought miswent,", "Eschewe thou that, for swich thing to thee scole is;", "Thus ofte wyse men ben war by folis.", "If thou do so, thy wit is wel biwared;", "By his contrarie is every thing declared.", "", "`For how might ever sweetnesse have be knowe", "To him that never tasted bitternesse?", "Ne no man may be inly glad, I trowe,", "That never was in sorwe or som distresse;", "Eek whyt by blak, by shame eek worthinesse,", "Ech set by other, more for other semeth;", "As men may see; and so the wyse it demeth.", "", "`Sith thus of two contraries is a lore,", "I, that have in love so ofte assayed", "Grevaunces, oughte conne, and wel the more", "Counsayllen thee of that thou art amayed.", "Eek thee ne oughte nat ben yvel apayed,", "Though I desyre with thee for to bere", "Thyn hevy charge; it shal the lasse dere.", "", "`I woot wel that it fareth thus by me", "As to thy brother Parys an herdesse,", "Which that y-cleped was Oenone,", "Wrot in a compleynte of hir hevinesse:", "Ye say the lettre that she wroot, y gesse?'", "`Nay, never yet, y-wis,' quod Troilus.", "`Now,' quod Pandare, `herkneth, it was thus. --", "", "\"Phebus, that first fond art of medicyne,'", "Quod she, `and coude in every wightes care", "Remede and reed, by herbes he knew fyne,", "Yet to him-self his conning was ful bare;", "For love hadde him so bounden in a snare,", "Al for the doughter of the kinge Admete,", "That al his craft ne coude his sorwe bete.\" --", "", "`Right so fare I, unhappily for me;", "I love oon best, and that me smerteth sore;", "And yet, paraunter, can I rede thee,", "And not my-self; repreve me no more.", "I have no cause, I woot wel, for to sore", "As doth an hauk that listeth for to pleye,", "But to thyn help yet somwhat can I seye.", "", "`And of o thing right siker maystow be,", "That certayn, for to deyen in the peyne,", "That I shal never-mo discoveren thee;", "Ne, by my trouthe, I kepe nat restreyne", "Thee fro thy love, thogh that it were Eleyne,", "That is thy brotheres wif, if ich it wiste;", "Be what she be, and love hir as thee liste.", "", "`Therfore, as freend fullich in me assure,", "And tel me plat what is thyn enchesoun,", "And final cause of wo that ye endure;", "For douteth no-thing, myn entencioun", "Nis nought to yow of reprehencioun,", "To speke as now, for no wight may bireve", "A man to love, til that him list to leve.", "", "`And witeth wel, that bothe two ben vyces,", "Mistrusten alle, or elles alle leve;", "But wel I woot, the mene of it no vyce is,", "For to trusten sum wight is a preve", "Of trouthe, and for-thy wolde I fayn remeve", "Thy wrong conseyte, and do thee som wight triste,", "Thy wo to telle; and tel me, if thee liste.", "", "`The wyse seyth, \"Wo him that is allone,", "For, and he falle, he hath noon help to ryse;\"", "And sith thou hast a felawe, tel thy mone;", "For this nis not, certeyn, the nexte wyse", "To winnen love, as techen us the wyse,", "To walwe and wepe as Niobe the quene,", "Whos teres yet in marbel been y-sene.", "", "`Lat be thy weping and thi drerinesse,", "And lat us lissen wo with other speche;", "So may thy woful tyme seme lesse.", "Delyte not in wo thy wo to seche,", "As doon thise foles that hir sorwes eche", "With sorwe, whan they han misaventure,", "And listen nought to seche hem other cure.", "", "`Men seyn, \"To wrecche is consolacioun", "To have an-other felawe in his peyne;\"", "That oughte wel ben our opinioun,", "For, bothe thou and I, of love we pleyne;", "So ful of sorwe am I, soth for to seyne,", "That certeynly no more harde grace", "May sitte on me, for-why ther is no space.", "", "`If god wole thou art not agast of me,", "Lest I wolde of thy lady thee bigyle,", "Thow wost thy-self whom that I love, pardee,", "As I best can, gon sithen longe whyle.", "And sith thou wost I do it for no wyle,", "And sith I am he that thou tristest most,", "Tel me sumwhat, sin al my wo thou wost.'", "", "Yet Troilus, for al this, no word seyde,", "But longe he ley as stille as he ded were;", "And after this with sykinge he abreyde,", "And to Pandarus voys he lente his ere,", "And up his eyen caste he, that in fere", "Was Pandarus, lest that in frenesye", "He sholde falle, or elles sone dye;", "", "And cryde `A-wake' ful wonderly and sharpe;", "`What? Slombrestow as in a lytargye?", "Or artow lyk an asse to the harpe,", "That hereth soun, whan men the strenges plye,", "But in his minde of that no melodye", "May sinken, him to glade, for that he", "So dul is of his bestialitee?'", "", "And with that, Pandare of his wordes stente;", "And Troilus yet him no word answerde,", "For-why to telle nas not his entente", "To never no man, for whom that he so ferde.", "For it is seyd, `Man maketh ofte a yerde", "With which the maker is him-self y-beten", "In sondry maner,' as thise wyse treten,", "", "And namely, in his counseyl tellinge", "That toucheth love that oughte be secree;", "For of him-self it wolde y-nough out-springe,", "But-if that it the bet governed be.", "Eek som-tyme it is craft to seme flee", "Fro thing which in effect men hunte faste;", "Al this gan Troilus in his herte caste.", "", "But nathelees, whan he had herd him crye", "`Awake!' he gan to syke wonder sore,", "And seyde, `Freend, though that I stille lye,", "I am not deef; now pees, and cry no more;", "For I have herd thy wordes and thy lore;", "But suffre me my mischef to biwayle,", "For thy proverbes may me nought avayle.", "", "`Nor other cure canstow noon for me.", "Eek I nil not be cured, I wol deye;", "What knowe I of the quene Niobe?", "Lat be thyne olde ensaumples, I thee preye.'", "`No,' quod tho Pandarus, `therfore I seye,", "Swich is delyt of foles to biwepe", "Hir wo, but seken bote they ne kepe.", "", "`Now knowe I that ther reson in the fayleth.", "But tel me, if I wiste what she were", "For whom that thee al this misaunter ayleth?", "Dorstestow that I tolde hir in hir ere", "Thy wo, sith thou darst not thy-self for fere,", "And hir bisoughte on thee to han som routhe?'", "`Why, nay,' quod he, `by god and by my trouthe!'", "", "`What, Not as bisily,' quod Pandarus,", "`As though myn owene lyf lay on this nede?'", "`No, certes, brother,' quod this Troilus,", "`And why?' -- `For that thou sholdest never spede.'", "`Wostow that wel?' -- `Ye, that is out of drede,'", "Quod Troilus, `for al that ever ye conne,", "She nil to noon swich wrecche as I be wonne.'", "", "Quod Pandarus, `Allas! What may this be,", "That thou dispeyred art thus causelees?", "What? Liveth not thy lady? Benedicite!", "How wostow so that thou art gracelees?", "Swich yvel is nat alwey botelees.", "Why, put not impossible thus thy cure,", "Sin thing to come is ofte in aventure.", "", "`I graunte wel that thou endurest wo", "As sharp as doth he, Ticius, in helle,", "Whos stomak foules tyren ever-mo", "That highte volturis, as bokes telle.", "But I may not endure that thou dwelle", "In so unskilful an opinioun", "That of thy wo is no curacioun.", "", "`But ones niltow, for thy coward herte,", "And for thyn ire and folish wilfulnesse,", "For wantrust, tellen of thy sorwes smerte,", "Ne to thyn owene help do bisinesse", "As muche as speke a resoun more or lesse,", "But lyest as he that list of no-thing recche.", "What womman coude love swich a wrecche?", "", "`What may she demen other of thy deeth,", "If thou thus deye, and she not why it is,", "But that for fere is yolden up thy breeth,", "For Grekes han biseged us, y-wis?", "Lord, which a thank than shaltow han of this!", "Thus wol she seyn, and al the toun at ones,", "\"The wrecche is deed, the devel have his bones!\"", "", "`Thou mayst allone here wepe and crye and knele;", "But, love a woman that she woot it nought,", "And she wol quyte that thou shalt not fele;", "Unknowe, unkist, and lost that is un-sought.", "What! Many a man hath love ful dere y-bought", "Twenty winter that his lady wiste,", "That never yet his lady mouth he kiste.", "", "`What? Shulde be therfor fallen in despeyr,", "Or be recreaunt for his owene tene,", "Or sleen him-self, al be his lady fayr?", "Nay, nay, but ever in oon be fresh and grene", "To serve and love his dere hertes quene,", "And thenke it is a guerdoun hir to serve", "A thousand-fold more than he can deserve.'", "", "Of that word took hede Troilus,", "And thoughte anoon what folye he was inne,", "And how that sooth him seyde Pandarus,", "That for to sleen him-self mighte he not winne,", "But bothe doon unmanhod and a sinne,", "And of his deeth his lady nought to wyte;", "For of his wo, god woot, she knew ful lyte.", "", "And with that thought he gan ful sore syke,", "And seyde, `Allas! What is me best to do?'", "To whom Pandare answered, `If thee lyke,", "The best is that thou telle me thy wo;", "And have my trouthe, but thou it finde so,", "I be thy bote, or that it be ful longe,", "To peces do me drawe, and sithen honge!'", "", "`Ye, so thou seyst,' quod Troilus tho, `allas!", "But, god wot, it is not the rather so;", "Ful hard were it to helpen in this cas,", "For wel finde I that Fortune is my fo,", "Ne alle the men that ryden conne or go", "May of hir cruel wheel the harm withstonde;", "For, as hir list, she pleyeth with free and bonde.'", "", "Quod Pandarus, `Than blamestow Fortune", "For thou art wrooth, ye, now at erst I see;", "Wostow nat wel that Fortune is commune", "To every maner wight in som degree?", "And yet thou hast this comfort, lo, pardee!", "That, as hir Ioyes moten over-goon,", "So mote hir sorwes passen everichoon.", "", "`For if hir wheel stinte any-thing to torne,", "Than cessed she Fortune anoon to be:", "Now, sith hir wheel by no wey may soiorne,", "What wostow if hir mutabilitee", "Right as thy-selven list, wol doon by thee,", "Or that she be not fer fro thyn helpinge?", "Paraunter, thou hast cause for to singe!", "", "`And therfor wostow what I thee beseche?", "Lat be thy wo and turning to the grounde;", "For who-so list have helping of his leche,", "To him bihoveth first unwrye his wounde.", "To Cerberus in helle ay be I bounde,", "Were it for my suster, al thy sorwe,", "By my wil, she sholde al be thyn to-morwe.", "`Loke up, I seye, and tel me what she is", "Anoon, that I may goon aboute thy nede;", "Knowe ich hir ought? For my love, tel me this;", "Than wolde I hopen rather for to spede.'", "Tho gan the veyne of Troilus to blede,", "For he was hit, and wex al reed for shame;", "`A ha!' quod Pandare, `Here biginneth game!'", "", "And with that word he gan him for to shake,", "And seyde, `Theef, thou shalt hir name telle.'", "But tho gan sely Troilus for to quake", "As though men sholde han led him in-to helle,", "And seyde, `Allas! Of al my wo the welle,", "Than is my swete fo called Criseyde!'", "And wel nigh with the word for fere he deyde.", "", "And whan that Pandare herde hir name nevene,", "Lord, he was glad, and seyde, `Freend so dere,", "Now fare a-right, for Ioves name in hevene,", "Love hath biset the wel, be of good chere;", "For of good name and wysdom and manere", "She hath y-nough, and eek of gentilesse;", "If she be fayr, thou wost thy-self, I gesse,", "", "`Ne I never saw a more bountevous", "Of hir estat, ne a gladder, ne of speche", "A freendlier, ne a more gracious", "For to do wel, ne lasse hadde nede to seche", "What for to doon; and al this bet to eche,", "In honour, to as fer as she may strecche,", "A kinges herte semeth by hirs a wrecche.", "", "`And for-thy loke of good comfort thou be;", "For certeinly, the firste poynt is this", "Of noble corage and wel ordeyne,", "A man to have pees with him-self, y-wis;", "So oughtest thou, for nought but good it is", "To loven wel, and in a worthy place;", "Thee oghte not to clepe it hap, but grace.", "", "`And also thenk, and ther-with glade thee,", "That sith thy lady vertuous is al,", "So folweth it that ther is som pitee", "Amonges alle thise othere in general;", "And for-thy see that thou, in special,", "Requere nought that is ayein hir name;", "For vertue streccheth not him-self to shame.", "", "`But wel is me that ever that I was born,", "That thou biset art in so good a place;", "For by my trouthe, in love I dorste have sworn,", "Thee sholde never han tid thus fayr a grace;", "And wostow why? For thou were wont to chace", "At Love in scorn, and for despyt him calle", "\"Seynt Idiot, lord of thise foles alle.\"", "", "`How often hastow maad thy nyce Iapes,", "And seyd, that loves servants everichone", "Of nycetee been verray goddes apes;", "And some wolde monche hir mete alone,", "Ligging a-bedde, and make hem for to grone;", "And som, thou seydest, hadde a blaunche fevere,", "And preydest god he sholde never kevere.", "", "`And som of hem tok on hem, for the colde,", "More than y-nough, so seydestow ful ofte;", "And som han feyned ofte tyme, and tolde", "How that they wake, whan they slepen softe;", "And thus they wolde han brought hem-self a-lofte,", "And nathelees were under at the laste;", "Thus seydestow, and Iapedest ful faste.", "", "`Yet seydestow, that, for the more part,", "These loveres wolden speke in general,", "And thoughten that it was a siker art,", "For fayling, for to assayen over-al.", "Now may I iape of thee, if that I shal!", "But nathelees, though that I sholde deye,", "That thou art noon of tho, that dorste I seye.", "", "`Now beet thy brest, and sey to god of love,", "\"Thy grace, lord! For now I me repente", "If I mis spak, for now my-self I love:\"", "Thus sey with al thyn herte in good entente.'", "Quod Troilus, `A! Lord! I me consente,", "And prey to thee my Iapes thou foryive,", "And I shal never-more whyl I live.'", "", "`Thou seyst wel,' quod Pandare, `and now I hope", "That thou the goddes wraththe hast al apesed;", "And sithen thou hast wepen many a drope,", "And seyd swich thing wher-with thy god is plesed,", "Now wolde never god but thou were esed;", "And think wel, she of whom rist al thy wo", "Here-after may thy comfort been al-so.", "", "`For thilke ground, that bereth the wedes wikke,", "Bereth eek thise holsom herbes, as ful ofte", "Next the foule netle, rough and thikke,", "The rose waxeth swote and smothe and softe;", "And next the valey is the hil a-lofte;", "And next the derke night the glade morwe;", "And also Ioye is next the fyn of sorwe.", "", "`Now loke that atempre be thy brydel,", "And, for the beste, ay suffre to the tyde,", "Or elles al our labour is on ydel;", "He hasteth wel that wysly can abyde;", "Be diligent, and trewe, and ay wel hyde.", "Be lusty, free, persevere in thy servyse,", "And al is wel, if thou werke in this wyse.", "", "`But he that parted is in every place", "Is no-wher hool, as writen clerkes wyse;", "What wonder is, though swich oon have no grace?", "Eek wostow how it fareth of som servyse?", "As plaunte a tre or herbe, in sondry wyse,", "And on the morwe pulle it up as blyve,", "No wonder is, though it may never thryve.", "", "`And sith that god of love hath thee bistowed", "In place digne un-to thy worthinesse,", "Stond faste, for to good port hastow rowed;", "And of thy-self, for any hevinesse,", "Hope alwey wel; for, but-if drerinesse", "Or over-haste our bothe labour shende,", "I hope of this to maken a good ende.", "", "`And wostow why I am the lasse a-fered", "Of this matere with my nece trete?", "For this have I herd seyd of wyse y-lered,", "\"Was never man ne woman yet bigete", "That was unapt to suffren loves hete,", "Celestial, or elles love of kinde;\"", "For-thy som grace I hope in hir to finde.", "", "`And for to speke of hir in special,", "Hir beautee to bithinken and hir youthe,", "It sit hir nought to be celestial", "As yet, though that hir liste bothe and couthe;", "But trewely, it sete hir wel right nouthe", "A worthy knight to loven and cheryce,", "And but she do, I holde it for a vyce.", "", "`Wherfore I am, and wol be, ay redy", "To peyne me to do yow this servyse;", "For bothe yow to plese thus hope I", "Her-afterward; for ye beth bothe wyse,", "And conne it counseyl kepe in swich a wyse", "That no man shal the wyser of it be;", "And so we may be gladed alle three.", "", "`And, by my trouthe, I have right now of thee", "A good conceyt in my wit, as I gesse,", "And what it is, I wol now that thou see.", "I thenke, sith that love, of his goodnesse,", "Hath thee converted out of wikkednesse,", "That thou shalt be the beste post, I leve,", "Of al his lay, and most his foos to-greve.", "", "`Ensample why, see now these wyse clerkes,", "That erren aldermost a-yein a lawe,", "And ben converted from hir wikked werkes", "Thorugh grace of god, that list hem to him drawe,", "Than arn they folk that han most god in awe,", "And strengest-feythed been, I understonde,", "And conne an errour alder-best withstonde.'", "", "Whan Troilus had herd Pandare assented", "To been his help in loving of Criseyde,", "Wex of his wo, as who seyth, untormented,", "But hotter wex his love, and thus he seyde,", "With sobre chere, al-though his herte pleyde,", "`Now blisful Venus helpe, er that I sterve,", "Of thee, Pandare, I may som thank deserve.", "", "`But, dere frend, how shal myn wo ben lesse", "Til this be doon? And goode, eek tel me this,", "How wiltow seyn of me and my destresse?", "Lest she be wrooth, this drede I most, y-wys,", "Or nil not here or trowen how it is.", "Al this drede I, and eek for the manere", "Of thee, hir eem, she nil no swich thing here.'", "", "Quod Pandarus, `Thou hast a ful gret care", "Lest that the cherl may falle out of the mone!", "Why, lord! I hate of the thy nyce fare!", "Why, entremete of that thou hast to done!", "For goddes love, I bidde thee a bone,", "So lat me alone, and it shal be thy beste.' --", "`Why, freend,' quod he, `now do right as the leste.", "", "`But herke, Pandare, o word, for I nolde", "That thou in me wendest so greet folye,", "That to my lady I desiren sholde", "That toucheth harm or any vilenye;", "For dredelees, me were lever dye", "Than she of me ought elles understode", "But that, that mighte sounen in-to gode.'", "", "Tho lough this Pandare, and anoon answerde,", "`And I thy borw? Fy! No wight dooth but so;", "I roughte nought though that she stode and herde", "How that thou seyst; but fare-wel, I wol go.", "A-dieu! Be glad! God spede us bothe two!", "Yif me this labour and this besinesse,", "And of my speed be thyn al that swetnesse.'", "", "Tho Troilus gan doun on knees to falle,", "And Pandare in his armes hente faste,", "And seyde, `Now, fy on the Grekes alle!", "Yet, pardee, god shal helpe us at the laste;", "And dredelees, if that my lyf may laste,", "And god to-forn, lo, som of hem shal smerte;", "And yet me athinketh that this avaunt me asterte!", "", "`Now, Pandare, I can no more seye,", "But thou wys, thou wost, thou mayst, thou art al!", "My lyf, my deeth, hool in thyn bonde I leye;", "Help now,' Quod he, `Yis, by my trouthe, I shal.'", "`God yelde thee, freend, and this in special,'", "Quod Troilus, `that thou me recomaunde", "To hir that to the deeth me may comaunde.'", "", "This Pandarus tho, desirous to serve", "His fulle freend, than seyde in this manere,", "`Far-wel, and thenk I wol thy thank deserve;", "Have here my trouthe, and that thou shalt wel here.' --", "And wente his wey, thenking on this matere,", "And how he best mighte hir beseche of grace,", "And finde a tyme ther-to, and a place.", "", "For every wight that hath an hous to founde", "Ne renneth nought the werk for to biginne", "With rakel hond, but he wol byde a stounde,", "And sende his hertes lyne out fro with-inne", "Alderfirst his purpos for to winne.", "Al this Pandare in his herte thoughte,", "And caste his werk ful wysly, or he wroughte.", "", "But Troilus lay tho no lenger doun,", "But up anoon up-on his stede bay,", "And in the feld he pleyde tho leoun;", "Wo was that Greek that with him mette that day.", "And in the toun his maner tho forth ay", "So goodly was, and gat him so in grace,", "That ech him lovede that loked on his face.", "", "For he bicom the frendlyeste wight,", "The gentileste, and eek the moste free,", "The thriftieste and oon the beste knight,", "That in his tyme was, or mighte be.", "Dede were his Iapes and his crueltee,", "His heighe port and his manere estraunge,", "And ech of tho gan for a vertu chaunge.", "", "Now lat us stinte of Troilus a stounde,", "That fareth lyk a man that hurt is sore,", "And is somdel of akinge of his wounde", "Y-lissed wel, but heled no del more:", "And, as an esy pacient, the lore", "Abit of him that gooth aboute his cure;", "And thus he dryveth forth his aventure.", "" ], "linecount": "1250" }, { "title": "The Sleeper", "author": "Edgar Allan Poe", "lines": [ "At midnight, in the month of June,", "I stand beneath the mystic moon.", "An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,", "Exhales from out her golden rim,", "And, softly dripping, drop by drop,", "Upon the quiet mountain top,", "Steals drowsily and musically", "Into the universal valley.", "The rosemary nods upon the grave;", "The lily lolls upon the wave;", "Wrapping the fog about its breast,", "The ruin moulders into rest;", "Looking like Lethe, see! the lake", "A conscious slumber seems to take,", "And would not, for the world, awake.", "All Beauty sleeps!--and lo! where lies", "(Her casement open to the skies)", "Irene, with her Destinies!", "", "Oh, lady bright! can it be right--", "This window open to the night!", "The wanton airs, from the tree-top,", "Laughingly through the lattice-drop--", "The bodiless airs, a wizard rout,", "Flit through thy chamber in and out,", "And wave the curtain canopy", "So fitfully--so fearfully--", "Above the closed and fringed lid", "'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,", "That, o'er the floor and down the wall,", "Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall!", "Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear?", "Why and what art thou dreaming here?", "Sure thou art come o'er far-off seas,", "A wonder to these garden trees!", "Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress!", "Strange, above all, thy length of tress,", "And this all-solemn silentness!", "", "The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep", "Which is enduring, so be deep!", "Heaven have her in its sacred keep!", "This chamber changed for one more holy,", "This bed for one more melancholy,", "I pray to God that she may lie", "For ever with unopened eye,", "While the dim sheeted ghosts go by!", "", "My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep,", "As it is lasting, so be deep;", "Soft may the worms about her creep!", "Far in the forest, dim and old,", "For her may some tall vault unfold--", "Some vault that oft hath flung its black", "And winged panels fluttering back,", "Triumphant, o'er the crested palls,", "Of her grand family funerals--", "Some sepulchre, remote, alone,", "Against whose portal she hath thrown,", "In childhood many an idle stone--", "Some tomb from out whose sounding door", "She ne'er shall force an echo more,", "Thrilling to think, poor child of sin!", "It was the dead who groaned within." ], "linecount": "61" }, { "title": "Al Aaraaf", "author": "Edgar Allan Poe", "lines": [ "PART I", "", "O! nothing earthly save the ray", "(Thrown back from flowers) of Beauty's eye,", "As in those gardens where the day", "Springs from the gems of Circassy--", "O! nothing earthly save the thrill", "Of melody in woodland rill--", "Or (music of the passion-hearted)", "Joy's voice so peacefully departed", "That like the murmur in the shell,", "Its echo dwelleth and will dwell--", "O! nothing of the dross of ours--", "Yet all the beauty--all the flowers", "That list our Love, and deck our bowers--", "Adorn yon world afar, afar--", "The wandering star.", "", "'Twas a sweet time for Nesace--for there", "Her world lay lolling on the golden air,", "Near four bright suns--a temporary rest--", "An oasis in desert of the blest.", "Away away--'mid seas of rays that roll", "Empyrean splendor o'er th' unchained soul--", "The soul that scarce (the billows are so dense)", "Can struggle to its destin'd eminence--", "To distant spheres, from time to time, she rode,", "And late to ours, the favour'd one of God--", "But, now, the ruler of an anchor'd realm,", "She throws aside the sceptre--leaves the helm,", "And, amid incense and high spiritual hymns,", "Laves in quadruple light her angel limbs.", "", "Now happiest, loveliest in yon lovely Earth,", "Whence sprang the \"Idea of Beauty\" into birth,", "(Falling in wreaths thro' many a startled star,", "Like woman's hair 'mid pearls, until, afar,", "It lit on hills Achaian, and there dwelt),", "She look'd into Infinity--and knelt.", "Rich clouds, for canopies, about her curled--", "Fit emblems of the model of her world--", "Seen but in beauty--not impeding sight--", "Of other beauty glittering thro' the light--", "A wreath that twined each starry form around,", "And all the opal'd air in color bound.", "", "All hurriedly she knelt upon a bed", "Of flowers: of lilies such as rear'd the head", "On the fair Capo Deucato, and sprang", "So eagerly around about to hang", "Upon the flying footsteps of--deep pride--", "Of her who lov'd a mortal--and so died.", "The Sephalica, budding with young bees,", "Uprear'd its purple stem around her knees:", "And gemmy flower, of Trebizond misnam'd--", "Inmate of highest stars, where erst it sham'd", "All other loveliness: its honied dew", "(The fabled nectar that the heathen knew)", "Deliriously sweet, was dropp'd from Heaven,", "And fell on gardens of the unforgiven", "In Trebizond--and on a sunny flower", "So like its own above that, to this hour,", "It still remaineth, torturing the bee", "With madness, and unwonted reverie:", "In Heaven, and all its environs, the leaf", "And blossom of the fairy plant, in grief", "Disconsolate linger--grief that hangs her head,", "Repenting follies that full long have fled,", "Heaving her white breast to the balmy air,", "Like guilty beauty, chasten'd, and more fair:", "Nyctanthes too, as sacred as the light", "She fears to perfume, perfuming the night:", "And Clytia pondering between many a sun,", "While pettish tears adown her petals run:", "And that aspiring flower that sprang on Earth--", "And died, ere scarce exalted into birth,", "Bursting its odorous heart in spirit to wing", "Its way to Heaven, from garden of a king:", "And Valisnerian lotus thither flown", "From struggling with the waters of the Rhone:", "And thy most lovely purple perfume, Zante!", "Isola d'oro!--Fior di Levante!", "And the Nelumbo bud that floats for ever", "With Indian Cupid down the holy river--", "Fair flowers, and fairy! to whose care is given", "To bear the Goddess' song, in odors, up to Heaven:", "", " \"Spirit! that dwellest where,", " In the deep sky,", " The terrible and fair,", " In beauty vie!", " Beyond the line of blue--", " The boundary of the star", " Which turneth at the view", " Of thy barrier and thy bar--", " Of the barrier overgone", " By the comets who were cast", " From their pride, and from their throne", " To be drudges till the last--", " To be carriers of fire", " (The red fire of their heart)", " With speed that may not tire", " And with pain that shall not part--", " Who livest--_that_ we know--", " In Eternity--we feel--", " But the shadow of whose brow", " What spirit shall reveal?", " Tho' the beings whom thy Nesace,", " Thy messenger hath known", " Have dream'd for thy Infinity", " A model of their own--", " Thy will is done, O God!", " The star hath ridden high", " Thro' many a tempest, but she rode", " Beneath thy burning eye;", " And here, in thought, to thee--", " In thought that can alone", " Ascend thy empire and so be", " A partner of thy throne--", " By winged Fantasy,", " My embassy is given,", " Till secrecy shall knowledge be", " In the environs of Heaven.\"", "", "She ceas'd--and buried then her burning cheek", "Abash'd, amid the lilies there, to seek", "A shelter from the fervor of His eye;", "For the stars trembled at the Deity.", "She stirr'd not--breath'd not--for a voice was there", "How solemnly pervading the calm air!", "A sound of silence on the startled ear", "Which dreamy poets name \"the music of the sphere.\"", "Ours is a world of words: Quiet we call", "\"Silence\"--which is the merest word of all.", "", "All Nature speaks, and ev'n ideal things", "Flap shadowy sounds from the visionary wings--", "But ah! not so when, thus, in realms on high", "The eternal voice of God is passing by,", "And the red winds are withering in the sky!", "\"What tho' in worlds which sightless cycles run,", "Link'd to a little system, and one sun--", "Where all my love is folly, and the crowd", "Still think my terrors but the thunder cloud,", "The storm, the earthquake, and the ocean-wrath", "(Ah! will they cross me in my angrier path?)", "What tho' in worlds which own a single sun", "The sands of time grow dimmer as they run,", "Yet thine is my resplendency, so given", "To bear my secrets thro' the upper Heaven.", "Leave tenantless thy crystal home, and fly,", "With all thy train, athwart the moony sky--", "Apart--like fire-flies in Sicilian night,", "And wing to other worlds another light!", "Divulge the secrets of thy embassy", "To the proud orbs that twinkle--and so be", "To ev'ry heart a barrier and a ban", "Lest the stars totter in the guilt of man!\"", "", " Up rose the maiden in the yellow night,", "The single-mooned eve!-on earth we plight", "Our faith to one love--and one moon adore--", "The birth-place of young Beauty had no more.", "As sprang that yellow star from downy hours,", "Up rose the maiden from her shrine of flowers,", "And bent o'er sheeny mountain and dim plain", "Her way--but left not yet her Therasæan reign.", "", "PART II", "", "High on a mountain of enamell'd head--", "Such as the drowsy shepherd on his bed", "Of giant pasturage lying at his ease,", "Raising his heavy eyelid, starts and sees", "With many a mutter'd \"hope to be forgiven\"", "What time the moon is quadrated in Heaven--", "Of rosy head, that towering far away", "Into the sunlit ether, caught the ray", "Of sunken suns at eve--at noon of night,", "While the moon danc'd with the fair stranger light--", "Uprear'd upon such height arose a pile", "Of gorgeous columns on th' uuburthen'd air,", "Flashing from Parian marble that twin smile", "Far down upon the wave that sparkled there,", "And nursled the young mountain in its lair.", "Of molten stars their pavement, such as fall", "Thro' the ebon air, besilvering the pall", "Of their own dissolution, while they die--", "Adorning then the dwellings of the sky.", "A dome, by linked light from Heaven let down,", "Sat gently on these columns as a crown--", "A window of one circular diamond, there,", "Look'd out above into the purple air", "And rays from God shot down that meteor chain", "And hallow'd all the beauty twice again,", "Save when, between th' Empyrean and that ring,", "Some eager spirit flapp'd his dusky wing.", "But on the pillars Seraph eyes have seen", "The dimness of this world: that grayish green", "That Nature loves the best for Beauty's grave", "Lurk'd in each cornice, round each architrave--", "And every sculptured cherub thereabout", "That from his marble dwelling peered out,", "Seem'd earthly in the shadow of his niche--", "Achaian statues in a world so rich?", "Friezes from Tadmor and Persepolis--", "From Balbec, and the stilly, clear abyss", "Of beautiful Gomorrah! Oh, the wave", "Is now upon thee--but too late to save!", "Sound loves to revel in a summer night:", "Witness the murmur of the gray twilight", "That stole upon the ear, in Eyraco,", "Of many a wild star-gazer long ago--", "That stealeth ever on the ear of him", "Who, musing, gazeth on the distance dim,", "And sees the darkness coming as a cloud--", "Is not its form--its voice--most palpable and loud?", " But what is this?--it cometh--and it brings", "A music with it--'tis the rush of wings--", "A pause--and then a sweeping, falling strain,", "And Nesace is in her halls again.", "From the wild energy of wanton haste", "Her cheeks were flushing, and her lips apart;", "The zone that clung around her gentle waist", "Had burst beneath the heaving of her heart.", "Within the centre of that hall to breathe", "She paus'd and panted, Zanthe! all beneath,", "The fairy light that kiss'd her golden hair", "And long'd to rest, yet could but sparkle there!", "", "Young flowers were whispering in melody", "To happy flowers that night--and tree to tree;", "Fountains were gushing music as they fell", "In many a star-lit grove, or moon-light dell;", "Yet silence came upon material things--", "Fair flowers, bright waterfalls and angel wings--", "And sound alone that from the spirit sprang", "Bore burthen to the charm the maiden sang:", "", " \"Neath blue-bell or streamer--", " Or tufted wild spray", " That keeps, from the dreamer,", " The moonbeam away--", " Bright beings! that ponder,", " With half-closing eyes,", " On the stars which your wonder", " Hath drawn from the skies,", " Till they glance thro' the shade, and", " Come down to your brow", " Like--eyes of the maiden", " Who calls on you now--", " Arise! from your dreaming", " In violet bowers,", " To duty beseeming", " These star-litten hours--", " And shake from your tresses", " Encumber'd with dew", "", " The breath of those kisses", " That cumber them too--", " (O! how, without you, Love!", " Could angels be blest?)", " Those kisses of true love", " That lull'd ye to rest!", " Up! shake from your wing", " Each hindering thing:", " The dew of the night--", " It would weigh down your flight;", " And true love caresses--", " O! leave them apart!", " They are light on the tresses,", " But lead on the heart.", "", " Ligeia! Ligeia!", " My beautiful one!", " Whose harshest idea", " Will to melody run,", " O! is it thy will", " On the breezes to toss?", " Or, capriciously still,", " Like the lone Albatross,", " Incumbent on night", " (As she on the air)", " To keep watch with delight", " On the harmony there?", "", " Ligeia! wherever", " Thy image may be,", " No magic shall sever", " Thy music from thee.", " Thou hast bound many eyes", " In a dreamy sleep--", " But the strains still arise", " Which _thy_ vigilance keep--", "", " The sound of the rain", " Which leaps down to the flower,", " And dances again", " In the rhythm of the shower--", " The murmur that springs", " From the growing of grass", " Are the music of things--", " But are modell'd, alas!", " Away, then, my dearest,", " O! hie thee away", " To springs that lie clearest", " Beneath the moon-ray--", " To lone lake that smiles,", " In its dream of deep rest,", " At the many star-isles", " That enjewel its breast--", " Where wild flowers, creeping,", " Have mingled their shade,", " On its margin is sleeping", " Full many a maid--", " Some have left the cool glade, and", " Have slept with the bee--", " Arouse them, my maiden,", " On moorland and lea--", "", " Go! breathe on their slumber,", " All softly in ear,", " The musical number", " They slumber'd to hear--", " For what can awaken", " An angel so soon", " Whose sleep hath been taken", " Beneath the cold moon,", " As the spell which no slumber", " Of witchery may test,", " The rhythmical number", " Which lull'd him to rest?\"", "", "Spirits in wing, and angels to the view,", "A thousand seraphs burst th' Empyrean thro',", "Young dreams still hovering on their drowsy flight--", "Seraphs in all but \"Knowledge,\" the keen light", "That fell, refracted, thro' thy bounds afar,", "O death! from eye of God upon that star;", "Sweet was that error--sweeter still that death--", "Sweet was that error--ev'n with _us_ the breath", "Of Science dims the mirror of our joy--", "To them 'twere the Simoom, and would destroy--", "For what (to them) availeth it to know", "That Truth is Falsehood--or that Bliss is Woe?", "Sweet was their death--with them to die was rife", "With the last ecstasy of satiate life--", "Beyond that death no immortality--", "But sleep that pondereth and is not \"to be\"--", "And there--oh! may my weary spirit dwell--", "Apart from Heaven's Eternity--and yet how far from Hell!", "", "What guilty spirit, in what shrubbery dim", "Heard not the stirring summons of that hymn?", "But two: they fell: for heaven no grace imparts", "To those who hear not for their beating hearts.", "A maiden-angel and her seraph-lover--", "O! where (and ye may seek the wide skies over)", "Was Love, the blind, near sober Duty known?", "Unguided Love hath fallen--'mid \"tears of perfect moan.\"", "", "He was a goodly spirit--he who fell:", "A wanderer by mossy-mantled well--", "A gazer on the lights that shine above--", "A dreamer in the moonbeam by his love:", "What wonder? for each star is eye-like there,", "And looks so sweetly down on Beauty's hair--", "And they, and ev'ry mossy spring were holy", "To his love-haunted heart and melancholy.", "The night had found (to him a night of wo)", "Upon a mountain crag, young Angelo--", "Beetling it bends athwart the solemn sky,", "And scowls on starry worlds that down beneath it lie.", "Here sate he with his love--his dark eye bent", "With eagle gaze along the firmament:", "Now turn'd it upon her--but ever then", "It trembled to the orb of EARTH again.", "", "\"Ianthe, dearest, see! how dim that ray!", "How lovely 'tis to look so far away!", "She seemed not thus upon that autumn eve", "I left her gorgeous halls--nor mourned to leave,", "That eve--that eve--I should remember well--", "The sun-ray dropped, in Lemnos with a spell", "On th' Arabesque carving of a gilded hall", "Wherein I sate, and on the draperied wall--", "And on my eyelids--O, the heavy light!", "How drowsily it weighed them into night!", "On flowers, before, and mist, and love they ran", "With Persian Saadi in his Gulistan:", "But O, that light!--I slumbered--Death, the while,", "Stole o'er my senses in that lovely isle", "So softly that no single silken hair", "Awoke that slept--or knew that he was there.", "", "\"The last spot of Earth's orb I trod upon", "Was a proud temple called the Parthenon;", "More beauty clung around her columned wall", "Then even thy glowing bosom beats withal,", "And when old Time my wing did disenthral", "Thence sprang I--as the eagle from his tower,", "And years I left behind me in an hour.", "What time upon her airy bounds I hung,", "One half the garden of her globe was flung", "Unrolling as a chart unto my view--", "Tenantless cities of the desert too!", "Ianthe, beauty crowded on me then,", "And half I wished to be again of men.\"", "", "\"My Angelo! and why of them to be?", "A brighter dwelling-place is here for thee--", "And greener fields than in yon world above,", "And woman's loveliness--and passionate love.\"", "\"But list, Ianthe! when the air so soft", "Failed, as my pennoned spirit leapt aloft,", "Perhaps my brain grew dizzy--but the world", "I left so late was into chaos hurled,", "Sprang from her station, on the winds apart,", "And rolled a flame, the fiery Heaven athwart.", "Methought, my sweet one, then I ceased to soar,", "And fell--not swiftly as I rose before,", "But with a downward, tremulous motion thro'", "Light, brazen rays, this golden star unto!", "Nor long the measure of my falling hours,", "For nearest of all stars was thine to ours--", "Dread star! that came, amid a night of mirth,", "A red Daedalion on the timid Earth.\"", "", "\"We came--and to thy Earth--but not to us", "Be given our lady's bidding to discuss:", "We came, my love; around, above, below,", "Gay fire-fly of the night we come and go,", "Nor ask a reason save the angel-nod", "_She_ grants to us as granted by her God--", "But, Angelo, than thine gray Time unfurled", "Never his fairy wing o'er fairer world!", "Dim was its little disk, and angel eyes", "Alone could see the phantom in the skies,", "When first Al Aaraaf knew her course to be", "Headlong thitherward o'er the starry sea--", "But when its glory swelled upon the sky,", "As glowing Beauty's bust beneath man's eye,", "We paused before the heritage of men,", "And thy star trembled--as doth Beauty then!\"", "", "Thus in discourse, the lovers whiled away", "The night that waned and waned and brought no day.", "They fell: for Heaven to them no hope imparts", "Who hear not for the beating of their hearts." ], "linecount": "424" }, { "title": "Troilus and Criseyde: Book IV", "author": "Geoffrey Chaucer", "lines": [ "", "But al to litel, weylaway the whyle,", "Lasteth swich Ioye, y-thonked be Fortune!", "That semeth trewest, whan she wol bygyle,", "And can to foles so hir song entune,", "That she hem hent and blent, traytour comune;", "And whan a wight is from hir wheel y-throwe,", "Than laugheth she, and maketh him the mowe.", "", "From Troilus she gan hir brighte face", "Awey to wrythe, and took of him non hede,", "But caste him clene out of his lady grace,", "And on hir wheel she sette up Diomede;", "For which right now myn herte ginneth blede,", "And now my penne, allas! With which I wryte,", "Quaketh for drede of that I moot endyte.", "", "For how Criseyde Troilus forsook,", "Or at the leste, how that she was unkinde,", "Mot hennes-forth ben matere of my book,", "As wryten folk through which it is in minde.", "Allas! That they sholde ever cause finde", "To speke hir harm; and if they on hir lye,", "Y-wis, hem-self sholde han the vilanye.", "", "O ye Herines, Nightes doughtren three,", "That endelees compleynen ever in pyne,", "Megera, Alete, and eek Thesiphone;", "Thou cruel Mars eek, fader to Quiryne,", "This ilke ferthe book me helpeth fyne,", "So that the los of lyf and love y-fere", "Of Troilus be fully shewed here.", "", "Explicit prohemium.", "", "Incipit Quartus Liber.", "", "Ligginge in ost, as I have seyd er this,", "The Grekes stronge, aboute Troye toun,", "Bifel that, whan that Phebus shyning is", "Up-on the brest of Hercules Lyoun,", "That Ector, with ful many a bold baroun,", "Caste on a day with Grekes for to fighte,", "As he was wont to greve hem what he mighte.", "", "Not I how longe or short it was bitwene", "This purpos and that day they fighte mente;", "But on a day wel armed, bright and shene,", "Ector, and many a worthy wight out wente,", "With spere in hond and bigge bowes bente;", "And in the herd, with-oute lenger lette,", "Hir fomen in the feld anoon hem mette.", "", "The longe day, with speres sharpe y-grounde,", "With arwes, dartes, swerdes, maces felle,", "They fighte and bringen hors and man to grounde,", "And with hir axes out the braynes quelle.", "But in the laste shour, sooth for to telle,", "The folk of Troye hem-selven so misledden,", "That with the worse at night homward they fledden.", "", "At whiche day was taken Antenor,", "Maugre Polydamas or Monesteo,", "Santippe, Sarpedon, Polynestor,", "Polyte, or eek the Troian daun Ripheo,", "And othere lasse folk, as Phebuseo.", "So that, for harm, that day the folk of Troye", "Dredden to lese a greet part of hir Ioye.", "", "Of Pryamus was yeve, at Greek requeste,", "A tyme of trewe, and tho they gonnen trete,", "Hir prisoneres to chaungen, moste and leste,", "And for the surplus yeven sommes grete.", "This thing anoon was couth in every strete,", "Bothe in thassege, in toune, and every-where,", "And with the firste it cam to Calkas ere.", "", "Whan Calkas knew this tretis sholde holde,", "In consistorie, among the Grekes, sone", "He gan in thringe forth, with lordes olde,", "And sette him there-as he was wont to done;", "And with a chaunged face hem bad a bone,", "For love of god, to don that reverence,", "To stinte noyse, and yeve him audience.", "", "Thanne seyde he thus, `Lo! Lordes myne, I was", "Troian, as it is knowen out of drede;", "And, if that yow remembre, I am Calkas,", "That alderfirst yaf comfort to your nede,", "And tolde wel how that ye sholden spede.", "For dredelees, thorugh yow, shal, in a stounde,", "Ben Troye y-brend, and beten doun to grounde.", "", "`And in what forme, or in what maner wyse", "This town to shende, and al your lust to acheve,", "Ye han er this wel herd it me devyse;", "This knowe ye, my lordes, as I leve.", "And for the Grekes weren me so leve,", "I com my-self in my propre persone,", "To teche in this how yow was best to done;", "", "`Havinge un-to my tresour ne my rente", "Right no resport, to respect of your ese.", "Thus al my good I loste and to yow wente,", "Wening in this you, lordes, for to plese.", "But al that los ne doth me no disese.", "I vouche-sauf, as wisly have I Ioye,", "For you to lese al that I have in Troye,", "", "`Save of a doughter, that I lafte, allas!", "Slepinge at hoom, whanne out of Troye I sterte.", "O sterne, O cruel fader that I was!", "How mighte I have in that so hard an herte?", "Allas! I ne hadde y-brought hir in hir sherte!", "For sorwe of which I wol not live to morwe,", "But-if ye lordes rewe up-on my sorwe.", "", "`For, by that cause I say no tyme er now", "Hir to delivere, I holden have my pees;", "But now or never, if that it lyke yow,", "I may hir have right sone, doutelees.", "O help and grace! Amonges al this prees,", "Rewe on this olde caitif in destresse,", "Sin I through yow have al this hevinesse!", "", "`Ye have now caught and fetered in prisoun", "Troians y-nowe; and if your willes be,", "My child with oon may have redempcioun.", "Now for the love of god and of bountee,", "Oon of so fele, allas! So yeve him me.", "What nede were it this preyere for to werne,", "Sin ye shul bothe han folk and toun as yerne?", "", "`On peril of my lyf, I shal nat lye,", "Appollo hath me told it feithfully;", "I have eek founde it be astronomye,", "By sort, and by augurie eek trewely,", "And dar wel seye, the tyme is faste by,", "That fyr and flaumbe on al the toun shal sprede;", "And thus shal Troye turne to asshen dede.", "", "`For certeyn, Phebus and Neptunus bothe,", "That makeden the walles of the toun,", "Ben with the folk of Troye alwey so wrothe,", "That thei wol bringe it to confusioun,", "Right in despyt of king Lameadoun.", "By-cause he nolde payen hem hir hyre,", "The toun of Troye shal ben set on-fyre.'", "", "Telling his tale alwey, this olde greye,", "Humble in speche, and in his lokinge eke,", "The salte teres from his eyen tweye", "Ful faste ronnen doun by eyther cheke.", "So longe he gan of socour hem by-seke", "That, for to hele him of his sorwes sore,", "They yave him Antenor, with-oute more.", "", "But who was glad y-nough but Calkas tho?", "And of this thing ful sone his nedes leyde", "On hem that sholden for the tretis go,", "And hem for Antenor ful ofte preyde", "To bringen hoom king Toas and Criseyde;", "And whan Pryam his save-garde sente,", "Thembassadours to Troye streyght they wente.", "", "The cause y-told of hir cominge, the olde", "Pryam the king ful sone in general", "Let here-upon his parlement to holde,", "Of which the effect rehersen yow I shal.", "Thembassadours ben answered for fynal,", "Theschaunge of prisoners and al this nede", "Hem lyketh wel, and forth in they procede.", "", "This Troilus was present in the place,", "Whan axed was for Antenor Criseyde,", "For which ful sone chaungen gan his face,", "As he that with tho wordes wel neigh deyde.", "But nathelees, he no word to it seyde,", "Lest men sholde his affeccioun espye;", "With mannes herte he gan his sorwes drye.", "", "And ful of anguissh and of grisly drede", "Abood what lordes wolde un-to it seye;", "And if they wolde graunte, as god forbede,", "Theschaunge of hir, than thoughte he thinges tweye,", "First, how to save hir honour, and what weye", "He mighte best theschaunge of hir withstonde;", "Ful faste he caste how al this mighte stonde.", "", "Love him made al prest to doon hir byde,", "And rather dye than she sholde go;", "But resoun seyde him, on that other syde,", "`With-oute assent of hir ne do not so,", "Lest for thy werk she wolde be thy fo,", "And seyn, that thorugh thy medling is y-blowe", "Your bother love, there it was erst unknowe.'", "", "For which he gan deliberen, for the beste,", "That though the lordes wolde that she wente,", "He wolde lat hem graunte what hem leste,", "And telle his lady first what that they mente.", "And whan that she had seyd him hir entente,", "Ther-after wolde he werken also blyve,", "Though al the world ayein it wolde stryve.", "", "Ector, which that wel the Grekes herde,", "For Antenor how they wolde han Criseyde,", "Gan it withstonde, and sobrely answerde: --", "`Sires, she nis no prisoner,' he seyde;", "`I noot on yow who that this charge leyde,", "But, on my part, ye may eft-sone hem telle,", "We usen here no wommen for to selle.'", "", "The noyse of peple up-stirte thanne at ones,", "As breme as blase of straw y-set on fyre;", "For infortune it wolde, for the nones,", "They sholden hir confusioun desyre.", "`Ector,' quod they, `what goost may yow enspyre", "This womman thus to shilde and doon us lese", "Daun Antenor? -- a wrong wey now ye chese --", "", "`That is so wys, and eek so bold baroun,", "And we han nede to folk, as men may see;", "He is eek oon, the grettest of this toun;", "O Ector, lat tho fantasyes be!", "O king Priam,' quod they, `thus seggen we,", "That al our voys is to for-gon Criseyde;'", "And to deliveren Antenor they preyde.", "", "O Iuvenal, lord! Trewe is thy sentence,", "That litel witen folk what is to yerne", "That they ne finde in hir desyr offence;", "For cloud of errour let hem not descerne", "What best is; and lo, here ensample as yerne.", "This folk desiren now deliveraunce", "Of Antenor, that broughte hem to mischaunce!", "", "For he was after traytour to the toun", "Of Troye; allas! They quitte him out to rathe;", "O nyce world, lo, thy discrecioun!", "Criseyde, which that never dide hem skathe,", "Shal now no lenger in hir blisse bathe;", "But Antenor, he shal com hoom to toune,", "And she shal out; thus seyden here and howne.", "", "For which delibered was by parlement", "For Antenor to yelden out Criseyde,", "And it pronounced by the president,", "Al-theigh that Ector `nay' ful ofte preyde.", "And fynaly, what wight that it with-seyde,", "It was for nought, it moste been, and sholde;", "For substaunce of the parlement it wolde.", "", "Departed out of parlement echone,", "This Troilus, with-oute wordes mo,", "Un-to his chaumbre spedde him faste allone,", "But-if it were a man of his or two,", "The whiche he bad out faste for to go,", "By-cause he wolde slepen, as he seyde,", "And hastely up-on his bed him leyde.", "", "And as in winter leves been biraft,", "Eche after other, til the tree be bare,", "So that ther nis but bark and braunche y-laft,", "Lyth Troilus, biraft of ech wel-fare,", "Y-bounden in the blake bark of care,", "Disposed wood out of his wit to breyde,", "So sore him sat the chaunginge of Criseyde.", "", "He rist him up, and every dore he shette", "And windowe eek, and tho this sorweful man", "Up-on his beddes syde a-doun him sette,", "Ful lyk a deed image pale and wan;", "And in his brest the heped wo bigan", "Out-breste, and he to werken in this wyse", "In his woodnesse, as I shal yow devyse.", "", "Right as the wilde bole biginneth springe", "Now here, now there, y-darted to the herte,", "And of his deeth roreth in compleyninge,", "Right so gan he aboute the chaumbre sterte,", "Smyting his brest ay with his festes smerte;", "His heed to the wal, his body to the grounde", "Ful ofte he swapte, him-selven to confounde.", "", "His eyen two, for pitee of his herte,", "Out stremeden as swifte welles tweye;", "The heighe sobbes of his sorwes smerte", "His speche him refte, unnethes mighte he seye,", "`O deeth, allas! Why niltow do me deye?", "A-cursed be the day which that nature", "Shoop me to ben a lyves creature!'", "", "But after, whan the furie and the rage", "Which that his herte twiste and faste threste,", "By lengthe of tyme somwhat gan asswage,", "Up-on his bed he leyde him doun to reste;", "But tho bigonne his teres more out-breste,", "That wonder is, the body may suffyse", "To half this wo, which that I yow devyse.", "", "Than seyde he thus, `Fortune! Allas the whyle!", "What have I doon, what have I thus a-gilt?", "How mightestow for reuthe me bigyle?", "Is ther no grace, and shal I thus be spilt?", "Shal thus Criseyde awey, for that thou wilt?", "Allas! How maystow in thyn herte finde", "To been to me thus cruel and unkinde?", "", "`Have I thee nought honoured al my lyve,", "As thou wel wost, above the goddes alle?", "Why wiltow me fro Ioye thus depryve?", "O Troilus, what may men now thee calle", "But wrecche of wrecches, out of honour falle", "In-to miserie, in which I wol biwayle", "Criseyde, allas! Til that the breeth me fayle?", "", "`Allas, Fortune! If that my lyf in Ioye", "Displesed hadde un-to thy foule envye,", "Why ne haddestow my fader, king of Troye,", "By-raft the lyf, or doon my bretheren dye,", "Or slayn my-self, that thus compleyne and crye,", "I, combre-world, that may of no-thing serve,", "But ever dye, and never fully sterve?", "", "`If that Criseyde allone were me laft,", "Nought roughte I whider thou woldest me stere;", "And hir, allas! Than hastow me biraft.", "But ever-more, lo! This is thy manere,", "To reve a wight that most is to him dere,", "To preve in that thy gerful violence.", "Thus am I lost, ther helpeth no defence!", "", "`O verray lord of love, O god, allas!", "That knowest best myn herte and al my thought,", "What shal my sorwful lyf don in this cas", "If I for-go that I so dere have bought?", "Sin ye Cryseyde and me han fully brought", "In-to your grace, and bothe our hertes seled,", "How may ye suffre, allas! It be repeled?", "", "`What I may doon, I shal, whyl I may dure", "On lyve in torment and in cruel peyne,", "This infortune or this disaventure,", "Allone as I was born, y-wis, compleyne;", "Ne never wil I seen it shyne or reyne;", "But ende I wil, as Edippe, in derknesse", "My sorwful lyf, and dyen in distresse.", "", "`O wery goost, that errest to and fro,", "Why niltow fleen out of the wofulleste", "Body, that ever mighte on grounde go?", "O soule, lurkinge in this wo, unneste,", "Flee forth out of myn herte, and lat it breste,", "And folwe alwey Criseyde, thy lady dere;", "Thy righte place is now no lenger here!", "", "`O wofulle eyen two, sin your disport", "Was al to seen Criseydes eyen brighte,", "What shal ye doon but, for my discomfort,", "Stonden for nought, and wepen out your sighte?", "Sin she is queynt, that wont was yow to lighte,", "In veyn fro-this-forth have I eyen tweye", "Y-formed, sin your vertue is a-weye.", "", "`O my Criseyde, O lady sovereyne", "Of thilke woful soule that thus cryeth,", "Who shal now yeven comfort to the peyne?", "Allas, no wight; but when myn herte dyeth,", "My spirit, which that so un-to yow hyeth,", "Receyve in gree, for that shal ay yow serve;", "For-thy no fors is, though the body sterve.", "", "`O ye loveres, that heighe upon the wheel", "Ben set of Fortune, in good aventure,", "God leve that ye finde ay love of steel,", "And longe mot your lyf in Ioye endure!", "But whan ye comen by my sepulture,", "Remembreth that your felawe resteth there;", "For I lovede eek, though I unworthy were.", "", "`O olde, unholsom, and mislyved man,", "Calkas I mene, allas! What eyleth thee", "To been a Greek, sin thou art born Troian?", "O Calkas, which that wilt my bane be,", "In cursed tyme was thou born for me!", "As wolde blisful Iove, for his Ioye,", "That I thee hadde, where I wolde, in Troye!'", "", "A thousand sykes, hottere than the glede,", "Out of his brest ech after other wente,", "Medled with pleyntes newe, his wo to fede,", "For which his woful teres never stente;", "And shortly, so his peynes him to-rente,", "And wex so mat, that Ioye nor penaunce", "He feleth noon, but lyth forth in a traunce.", "", "Pandare, which that in the parlement", "Hadde herd what every lord and burgeys seyde,", "And how ful graunted was, by oon assent,", "For Antenor to yelden so Criseyde,", "Gan wel neigh wood out of his wit to breyde,", "So that, for wo, he niste what he mente;", "But in a rees to Troilus he wente.", "", "A certeyn knight, that for the tyme kepte", "The chaumbre-dore, un-dide it him anoon;", "And Pandare, that ful tendreliche wepte,", "In-to the derke chaumbre, as stille as stoon,", "Toward the bed gan softely to goon,", "So confus, that he niste what to seye;", "For verray wo his wit was neigh aweye.", "", "And with his chere and loking al to-torn,", "For sorwe of this, and with his armes folden,", "He stood this woful Troilus biforn,", "And on his pitous face he gan biholden;", "But lord, so often gan his herte colden,", "Seing his freend in wo, whos hevinesse", "His herte slow, as thoughte him, for distresse.", "", "This woful wight, this Troilus, that felte", "His freend Pandare y-comen him to see,", "Gan as the snow ayein the sonne melte,", "For which this sorwful Pandare, of pitee,", "Gan for to wepe as tendreliche as he;", "And specheles thus been thise ilke tweye,", "That neyther mighte o word for sorwe seye.", "", "But at the laste this woful Troilus,", "Ney deed for smert, gan bresten out to rore,", "And with a sorwful noyse he seyde thus,", "Among his sobbes and his sykes sore,", "`Lo! Pandare, I am deed, with-outen more.", "Hastow nought herd at parlement,' he seyde,", "`For Antenor how lost is my Criseyde?'", "", "This Pandarus, ful deed and pale of hewe,", "Ful pitously answerde and seyde, `Yis!", "As wisly were it fals as it is trewe,", "That I have herd, and wot al how it is.", "O mercy, god, who wolde have trowed this?", "Who wolde have wend that, in so litel a throwe,", "Fortune our Ioye wolde han over-throwe?", "", "`For in this world ther is no creature,", "As to my doom, that ever saw ruyne", "Straungere than this, thorugh cas or aventure.", "But who may al eschewe, or al devyne?", "Swich is this world; for-thy I thus defyne,", "Ne trust no wight to finden in Fortune", "Ay propretee; hir yeftes been comune.", "", "`But tel me this, why thou art now so mad", "To sorwen thus? Why lystow in this wyse,", "Sin thy desyr al holly hastow had,", "So that, by right, it oughte y-now suffyse?", "But I, that never felte in my servyse", "A frendly chere or loking of an ye,", "Lat me thus wepe and wayle, til I dye.", "", "`And over al this, as thou wel wost thy-selve,", "This town is ful of ladies al aboute;", "And, to my doom, fairer than swiche twelve", "As ever she was, shal I finde, in som route,", "Ye, oon or two, with-outen any doute.", "For-thy be glad, myn owene dere brother,", "If she be lost, we shal recovere another.", "", "`What, god for-bede alwey that ech plesaunce", "In o thing were, and in non other wight!", "If oon can singe, another can wel daunce;", "If this be goodly, she is glad and light;", "And this is fayr, and that can good a-right.", "Ech for his vertu holden is for dere,", "Bothe heroner and faucon for rivere.", "", "`And eek, as writ Zanzis, that was ful wys,", "\"The newe love out chaceth ofte the olde;\"", "And up-on newe cas lyth newe avys.", "Thenk eek, thy-self to saven artow holde;", "Swich fyr, by proces, shal of kinde colde.", "For sin it is but casuel plesaunce,", "Som cas shal putte it out of remembraunce.", "", "`For al-so seur as day cometh after night,", "The newe love, labour or other wo,", "Or elles selde seinge of a wight,", "Don olde affecciouns alle over-go.", "And, for thy part, thou shalt have oon of tho", "To abrigge with thy bittre peynes smerte;", "Absence of hir shal dryve hir out of herte.'", "", "Thise wordes seyde he for the nones alle,", "To helpe his freend, lest he for sorwe deyde.", "For douteles, to doon his wo to falle,", "He roughte not what unthrift that he seyde.", "But Troilus, that neigh for sorwe deyde,", "Tok litel hede of al that ever he mente;", "Oon ere it herde, at the other out it wente:", "", "But at the laste answerde and seyde, `Freend,", "This lechecraft, or heled thus to be,", "Were wel sitting, if that I were a feend,", "To traysen hir that trewe is unto me!", "I pray god, lat this consayl never y-thee;", "But do me rather sterve anon-right here", "Er I thus do as thou me woldest lere.", "", "`She that I serve, y-wis, what so thou seye,", "To whom myn herte enhabit is by right,", "Shal han me holly hires til that I deye.", "For, Pandarus, sin I have trouthe hir hight,", "I wol not been untrewe for no wight;", "But as hir man I wol ay live and sterve,", "And never other creature serve.", "", "`And ther thou seyst, thou shalt as faire finde", "As she, lat be, make no comparisoun", "To creature y-formed here by kinde.", "O leve Pandare, in conclusioun,", "I wol not be of thyn opinioun,", "Touching al this; for whiche I thee biseche,", "So hold thy pees; thou sleest me with thy speche.", "", "`Thow biddest me I sholde love an-other", "Al freshly newe, and lat Criseyde go!", "It lyth not in my power, leve brother.", "And though I mighte, I wolde not do so.", "But canstow pleyen raket, to and fro,", "Netle in, dokke out, now this, now that, Pandare?", "Now foule falle hir, for thy wo that care!", "", "`Thow farest eek by me, thou Pandarus,", "As he, that whan a wight is wo bi-goon,", "He cometh to him a pas, and seyth right thus,", "\"Thenk not on smert, and thou shalt fele noon.\"", "Thou most me first transmuwen in a stoon,", "And reve me my passiounes alle,", "Er thou so lightly do my wo to falle.", "", "`The deeth may wel out of my brest departe", "The lyf, so longe may this sorwe myne;", "But fro my soule shal Criseydes darte", "Out never-mo; but doun with Proserpyne,", "Whan I am deed, I wol go wone in pyne;", "And ther I wol eternaly compleyne", "My wo, and how that twinned be we tweyne.", "", "`Thow hast here maad an argument, for fyn,", "How that it sholde a lasse peyne be", "Criseyde to for-goon, for she was myn,", "And live in ese and in felicitee.", "Why gabbestow, that seydest thus to me", "That \"him is wors that is fro wele y-throwe,", "Than he hadde erst non of that wele y-knowe?\"", "", "`But tel me now, sin that thee thinketh so light", "To chaungen so in love, ay to and fro,", "Why hastow not don bisily thy might", "To chaungen hir that doth thee al thy wo?", "Why niltow lete hir fro thyn herte go?", "Why niltow love an-other lady swete,", "That may thyn herte setten in quiete?", "", "`If thou hast had in love ay yet mischaunce,", "And canst it not out of thyn herte dryve,", "I, that livede in lust and in plesaunce", "With hir as muche as creature on-lyve,", "How sholde I that foryete, and that so blyve?", "O where hastow ben hid so longe in muwe,", "That canst so wel and formely arguwe?", "", "`Nay, nay, god wot, nought worth is al thy reed,", "For which, for what that ever may bifalle,", "With-outen wordes mo, I wol be deed.", "O deeth, that endere art of sorwes alle,", "Com now, sin I so ofte after thee calle,", "For sely is that deeth, soth for to seyne,", "That, ofte y-cleped, cometh and endeth peyne.", "", "`Wel wot I, whyl my lyf was in quiete,", "Er thou me slowe, I wolde have yeven hyre;", "But now thy cominge is to me so swete,", "That in this world I no-thing so desyre.", "O deeth, sin with this sorwe I am a-fyre,", "Thou outher do me anoon yn teres drenche,", "Or with thy colde strook myn hete quenche!", "", "`Sin that thou sleest so fele in sondry wyse", "Ayens hir wil, unpreyed, day and night,", "Do me, at my requeste, this servyse,", "Delivere now the world, so dostow right,", "Of me, that am the wofulleste wight", "That ever was; for tyme is that I sterve,", "Sin in this world of right nought may I serve.'", "", "This Troilus in teres gan distille,", "As licour out of alambyk ful faste;", "And Pandarus gan holde his tunge stille,", "And to the ground his eyen doun he caste.", "But nathelees, thus thoughte he at the laste,", "`What, parde, rather than my felawe deye,", "Yet shal I som-what more un-to him seye:'", "", "And seyde, `Freend, sin thou hast swich distresse,", "And sin thee list myn arguments to blame,", "Why nilt thy-selven helpen doon redresse,", "And with thy manhod letten al this grame?", "Go ravisshe hir ne canstow not for shame!", "And outher lat hir out of toune fare,", "Or hold hir stille, and leve thy nyce fare.", "", "`Artow in Troye, and hast non hardiment", "To take a womman which that loveth thee,", "And wolde hir-selven been of thyn assent?", "Now is not this a nyce vanitee?", "Rys up anoon, and lat this weping be,", "And kyth thou art a man, for in this houre", "I wil be deed, or she shal bleven oure.'", "", "To this answerde him Troilus ful softe,", "And seyde, `Parde, leve brother dere,", "Al this have I my-self yet thought ful ofte,", "And more thing than thou devysest here.", "But why this thing is laft, thou shalt wel here;", "And whan thou me hast yeve an audience,", "Ther-after mayst thou telle al thy sentence.", "", "`First, sin thou wost this toun hath al this werre", "For ravisshing of wommen so by might,", "It sholde not be suffred me to erre,", "As it stant now, ne doon so gret unright.", "I sholde han also blame of every wight,", "My fadres graunt if that I so withstode,", "Sin she is chaunged for the tounes goode.", "", "`I have eek thought, so it were hir assent,", "To aske hir at my fader, of his grace;", "Than thenke I, this were hir accusement,", "Sin wel I woot I may hir not purchace.", "For sin my fader, in so heigh a place", "As parlement, hath hir eschaunge enseled,", "He nil for me his lettre be repeled.", "", "`Yet drede I most hir herte to pertourbe", "With violence, if I do swich a game;", "For if I wolde it openly distourbe,", "It moste been disclaundre to hir name.", "And me were lever deed than hir defame,", "As nolde god but-if I sholde have", "Hir honour lever than my lyf to save!", "", "`Thus am I lost, for ought that I can see;", "For certeyn is, sin that I am hir knight,", "I moste hir honour levere han than me", "In every cas, as lovere oughte of right.", "Thus am I with desyr and reson twight;", "Desyr for to destourben hir me redeth,", "And reson nil not, so myn herte dredeth.'", "", "Thus wepinge that he coude never cesse,", "He seyde, `Allas! How shal I, wrecche, fare?", "For wel fele I alwey my love encresse,", "And hope is lasse and lasse alwey, Pandare!", "Encressen eek the causes of my care;", "So wel-a-wey, why nil myn herte breste?", "For, as in love, ther is but litel reste.'", "", "Pandare answerde, `Freend, thou mayst, for me,", "Don as thee list; but hadde ich it so hote,", "And thyn estat, she sholde go with me;", "Though al this toun cryede on this thing by note,", "I nolde sette at al that noyse a grote.", "For when men han wel cryed, than wol they roune;", "A wonder last but nyne night never in toune.", "", "`Devyne not in reson ay so depe", "Ne curteysly, but help thy-self anoon;", "Bet is that othere than thy-selven wepe,", "And namely, sin ye two been al oon.", "Rys up, for by myn heed, she shal not goon;", "And rather be in blame a lyte y-founde", "Than sterve here as a gnat, with-oute wounde.", "", "`It is no shame un-to yow, ne no vyce", "Hir to with-holden, that ye loveth most.", "Paraunter, she mighte holden thee for nyce", "To lete hir go thus to the Grekes ost.", "Thenk eek Fortune, as wel thy-selven wost,", "Helpeth hardy man to his enpryse,", "And weyveth wrecches, for hir cowardyse.", "", "`And though thy lady wolde a litel hir greve,", "Thou shalt thy pees ful wel here-after make,", "But as for me, certayn, I can not leve", "That she wolde it as now for yvel take.", "Why sholde than for ferd thyn herte quake?", "Thenk eek how Paris hath, that is thy brother,", "A love; and why shaltow not have another?", "", "`And Troilus, o thing I dar thee swere,", "That if Criseyde, whiche that is thy leef,", "Now loveth thee as wel as thou dost here,", "God helpe me so, she nil nat take a-greef,", "Though thou do bote a-noon in this mischeef.", "And if she wilneth fro thee for to passe,", "Thanne is she fals; so love hir wel the lasse.", "", "`For-thy tak herte, and thenk, right as a knight,", "Thourgh love is broken alday every lawe.", "Kyth now sumwhat thy corage and thy might,", "Have mercy on thy-self, for any awe.", "Lat not this wrecched wo thin herte gnawe,", "But manly set the world on sixe and sevene;", "And, if thou deye a martir, go to hevene.", "", "`I wol my-self be with thee at this dede,", "Though ich and al my kin, up-on a stounde,", "Shulle in a strete as dogges liggen dede,", "Thourgh-girt with many a wyd and blody wounde.", "In every cas I wol a freend be founde.", "And if thee list here sterven as a wrecche,", "A-dieu, the devel spede him that it recche!'", "", "This Troilus gan with tho wordes quiken,", "And seyde, `Freend, graunt mercy, ich assente;", "But certaynly thou mayst not me so priken,", "Ne peyne noon ne may me so tormente,", "That, for no cas, it is not myn entente,", "At shorte wordes, though I dyen sholde,", "To ravisshe hir, but-if hir-self it wolde.'", "", "`Why, so mene I,' quod Pandarus, `al this day.", "But tel me than, hastow hir wil assayed,", "That sorwest thus?' And he answerde, `Nay.'", "`Wher-of artow,' quod Pandare, `than a-mayed,", "That nost not that she wol ben y-vel apayed", "To ravisshe hir, sin thou hast not ben there,", "But-if that Iove tolde it in thyn ere?", "", "`For-thy rys up, as nought ne were, anoon,", "And wash thy face, and to the king thou wende,", "Or he may wondren whider thou art goon.", "Thou most with wisdom him and othere blende;", "Or, up-on cas, he may after thee sende", "Er thou be war; and shortly, brother dere,", "Be glad, and lat me werke in this matere.", "", "`For I shal shape it so, that sikerly", "Thou shalt this night som tyme, in som manere,", "Com speke with thy lady prevely,", "And by hir wordes eek, and by hir chere,", "Thou shalt ful sone aperceyve and wel here", "Al hir entente, and in this cas the beste;", "And fare now wel, for in this point I reste.'", "", "The swifte Fame, whiche that false thinges", "Egal reporteth lyk the thinges trewe,", "Was thorugh-out Troye y-fled with preste winges", "Fro man to man, and made this tale al newe,", "How Calkas doughter, with hir brighte hewe,", "At parlement, with-oute wordes more,", "I-graunted was in chaunge of Antenore.", "", "The whiche tale anoon-right as Criseyde", "Had herd, she, which that of hir fader roughte,", "As in this cas, right nought, ne whanne he deyde,", "Ful bisily to Iuppiter bisoughte", "Yeve hem mischaunce that this tretis broughte.", "But shortly, lest thise tales sothe were,", "She dorste at no wight asken it, for fere.", "", "As she that hadde hir herte and al hir minde", "On Troilus y-set so wonder faste,", "That al this world ne mighte hir love unbinde,", "Ne Troilus out of hir herte caste;", "She wol ben his, whyl that hir lyf may laste.", "And thus she brenneth bothe in love and drede,", "So that she niste what was best to rede.", "", "But as men seen in toune, and al aboute,", "That wommen usen frendes to visyte,", "So to Criseyde of wommen com a route", "For pitous Ioye, and wenden hir delyte;", "And with hir tales, dere y-nough a myte,", "These wommen, whiche that in the cite dwelle,", "They sette hem doun, and seyde as I shal telle.", "", "Quod first that oon, `I am glad, trewely,", "By-cause of yow, that shal your fader see.'", "A-nother seyde, `Y-wis, so nam not I,", "For al to litel hath she with us be.'", "Quod tho the thridde, `I hope, y-wis, that she", "Shal bringen us the pees on every syde,", "That, whan she gooth, almighty god hir gyde!'", "", "Tho wordes and tho wommanisshe thinges,", "She herde hem right as though she thennes were;", "For, god it wot, hir herte on other thing is,", "Although the body sat among hem there.", "Hir advertence is alwey elles-where;", "For Troilus ful faste hir soule soughte;", "With-outen word, alwey on him she thoughte.", "", "Thise wommen, that thus wenden hir to plese,", "Aboute nought gonne alle hir tales spende;", "Swich vanitee ne can don hir non ese,", "As she that, al this mene whyle. brende", "Of other passioun than that they wende,", "So that she felte almost hir herte deye", "For wo, and wery of that companye.", "", "For which no lenger mighte she restreyne", "Hir teres, so they gonnen up to welle,", "That yaven signes of the bitter peyne", "In whiche hir spirit was, and moste dwelle;", "Remembring hir, fro heven unto which helle", "She fallen was, sith she forgoth the sighte", "Of Troilus, and sorowfully she sighte.", "", "And thilke foles sittinge hir aboute", "Wenden, that she wepte and syked sore", "By-cause that she sholde out of that route", "Departe, and never pleye with hem more.", "And they that hadde y-knowen hir of yore", "Seye hir so wepe, and thoughte it kindenesse,", "And eche of hem wepte eek for hir destresse;", "", "And bisily they gonnen hir conforten", "Of thing, god wot, on which she litel thoughte;", "And with hir tales wenden hir disporten,", "And to be glad they often hir bisoughte.", "But swich an ese ther-with they hir wroughte", "Right as a man is esed for to fele,", "For ache of heed, to clawen him on his hele!", "", "But after al this nyce vanitee", "They took hir leve, and hoom they wenten alle.", "Criseyde, ful of sorweful pitee,", "In-to hir chaumbre up wente out of the halle,", "And on hir bed she gan for deed to falle,", "In purpos never thennes for to ryse;", "And thus she wroughte, as I shal yow devyse.", "", "Hir ounded heer, that sonnish was of hewe,", "She rente, and eek hir fingres longe and smale", "She wrong ful ofte, and bad god on hir rewe,", "And with the deeth to doon bote on hir bale.", "Hir hewe, whylom bright, that tho was pale,", "Bar witnes of hir wo and hir constreynte;", "And thus she spak, sobbinge, in hir compleynte:", "", "`Alas!' quod she, `out of this regioun", "I, woful wrecche and infortuned wight,", "And born in corsed constellacioun,", "Mot goon, and thus departen fro my knight;", "Wo worth, allas! That ilke dayes light", "On which I saw him first with eyen tweyne,", "That causeth me, and I him, al this peyne!'", "", "Therwith the teres from hir eyen two", "Doun fille, as shour in Aperill ful swythe;", "Hir whyte brest she bet, and for the wo", "After the deeth she cryed a thousand sythe,", "Sin he that wont hir wo was for to lythe,", "She mot for-goon; for which disaventure", "She held hir-self a forlost creature.", "", "She seyde, `How shal he doon, and I also?", "How sholde I live, if that I from him twinne?", "O dere herte eek, that I love so,", "Who shal that sorwe sleen that ye ben inne?", "O Calkas, fader, thyn be al this sinne!", "O moder myn, that cleped were Argyve,", "Wo worth that day that thou me bere on lyve!", "", "`To what fyn sholde I live and sorwen thus?", "How sholde a fish with-oute water dure?", "What is Criseyde worth, from Troilus?", "How sholde a plaunte or lyves creature", "Live, with-oute his kinde noriture?", "For which ful oft a by-word here I seye,", "That \"rotelees, mot grene sone deye.\"", "", "`I shal don thus, sin neither swerd ne darte", "Dar I non handle, for the crueltee,", "That ilke day that I from yow departe,", "If sorwe of that nil not my bane be,", "Than shal no mete or drinke come in me", "Til I my soule out of my breste unshethe;", "And thus my-selven wol I do to dethe.", "", "`And, Troilus, my clothes everichoon", "Shul blake been, in tokeninge, herte swete,", "That I am as out of this world agoon,", "That wont was yow to setten in quiete;", "And of myn ordre, ay til deeth me mete,", "The observaunce ever, in your absence,", "Shal sorwe been, compleynte, and abstinence.", "", "`Myn herte and eek the woful goost ther-inne", "Biquethe I, with your spirit to compleyne", "Eternally, for they shal never twinne.", "For though in erthe y-twinned be we tweyne,", "Yet in the feld of pitee, out of peyne,", "That hight Elysos, shul we been y-fere,", "As Orpheus and Erudice, his fere.", "", "`Thus, herte myn, for Antenor, allas!", "I sone shal be chaunged, as I wene.", "But how shul ye don in this sorwful cas,", "How shal youre tendre herte this sustene?", "But herte myn, for-yet this sorwe and tene,", "And me also; for, soothly for to seye,", "So ye wel fare, I recche not to deye.'", "", "How mighte it ever y-red ben or y-songe,", "The pleynte that she made in hir distresse?", "I noot; but, as for me, my litel tonge,", "If I discreven wolde hir hevinesse,", "It sholde make hir sorwe seme lesse", "Than that it was, and childishly deface", "Hir heigh compleynte, and therfore I it pace.", "", "Pandare, which that sent from Troilus", "Was to Criseyde, as ye han herd devyse,", "That for the beste it was accorded thus,", "And he ful glad to doon him that servyse,", "Un-to Criseyde, in a ful secree wyse,", "Ther-as she lay in torment and in rage,", "Com hir to telle al hoolly his message,", "", "And fond that she hir-selven gan to trete", "Ful pitously; for with hir salte teres", "Hir brest, hir face, y-bathed was ful wete;", "The mighty tresses of hir sonnish heres,", "Unbroyden, hangen al aboute hir eres;", "Which yaf him verray signal of martyre", "Of deeth, which that hir herte gan desyre.", "", "Whan she him saw, she gan for sorwe anoon", "Hir tery face a-twixe hir armes hide,", "For which this Pandare is so wo bi-goon,", "That in the hous he mighte unnethe abyde,", "As he that pitee felte on every syde.", "For if Criseyde hadde erst compleyned sore,", "Tho gan she pleyne a thousand tymes more.", "", "And in hir aspre pleynte than she seyde,", "`Pandare first of Ioyes mo than two", "Was cause causinge un-to me, Criseyde,", "That now transmuwed been in cruel wo.", "Wher shal I seye to yow \"wel come\" or no,", "That alderfirst me broughte in-to servyse", "Of love, allas! That endeth in swich wyse?", "", "`Endeth than love in wo? Ye, or men lyeth!", "And alle worldly blisse, as thinketh me.", "The ende of blisse ay sorwe it occupyeth;", "And who-so troweth not that it so be,", "Lat him upon me, woful wrecche, y-see,", "That my-self hate, and ay my birthe acorse,", "Felinge alwey, fro wikke I go to worse.", "", "`Who-so me seeth, he seeth sorwe al at ones,", "Peyne, torment, pleynte, wo, distresse.", "Out of my woful body harm ther noon is,", "As anguish, langour, cruel bitternesse,", "A-noy, smert, drede, fury, and eek siknesse.", "I trowe, y-wis, from hevene teres reyne,", "For pitee of myn aspre and cruel peyne! '", "", "`And thou, my suster, ful of discomfort,'", "Quod Pandarus, `what thenkestow to do?", "Why ne hastow to thy-selven som resport,", "Why woltow thus thy-selve, allas, for-do?", "Leef al this werk and tak now hede to", "That I shal seyn, and herkne, of good entente,", "This, which by me thy Troilus thee sente.'", "", "Torned hir tho Criseyde, a wo makinge", "So greet that it a deeth was for to see: --", "`Allas!' quod she, `what wordes may ye bringe?", "What wol my dere herte seyn to me,", "Which that I drede never-mo to see?", "Wol he have pleynte or teres, er I wende?", "I have y-nowe, if he ther-after sende!'", "", "She was right swich to seen in hir visage", "As is that wight that men on bere binde;", "Hir face, lyk of Paradys the image,", "Was al y-chaunged in another kinde.", "The pleye, the laughtre men was wont to finde", "On hir, and eek hir Ioyes everychone,", "Ben fled, and thus lyth now Criseyde allone.", "", "Aboute hir eyen two a purpre ring", "Bi-trent, in sothfast tokninge of hir peyne,", "That to biholde it was a dedly thing,", "For which Pandare mighte not restreyne", "The teres from his eyen for to reyne.", "But nathelees, as he best mighte, he seyde", "From Troilus thise wordes to Criseyde.", "", "`Lo, nece, I trowe ye han herd al how", "The king, with othere lordes, for the beste,", "Hath mad eschaunge of Antenor and yow,", "That cause is of this sorwe and this unreste.", "But how this cas doth Troilus moleste,", "That may non erthely mannes tonge seye;", "For verray wo his wit is al aweye.", "", "`For which we han so sorwed, he and I,", "That in-to litel bothe it hadde us slawe;", "But thurgh my conseil this day, fynally,", "He somwhat is fro weping now with-drawe.", "And semeth me that he desyreth fawe", "With yow to been al night, for to devyse", "Remede in this, if ther were any wyse.", "", "`This, short and pleyne, theffect of my message,", "As ferforth as my wit can comprehende.", "For ye, that been of torment in swich rage,", "May to no long prologe as now entende;", "And her-upon ye may answere him sende.", "And, for the love of god, my nece dere,", "So leef this wo er Troilus be here.'", "", "`Gret is my wo,' quod she, and sighte sore,", "As she that feleth dedly sharp distresse;", "`But yet to me his sorwe is muchel more,", "That love him bet than he him-self, I gesse.", "Allas! For me hath he swich hevinesse?", "Can he for me so pitously compleyne?", "Y-wis, his sorwe doubleth al my peyne.", "", "`Grevous to me, god wot, is for to twinne,'", "Quod she, `but yet it hardere is to me", "To seen that sorwe which that he is inne;", "For wel wot I, it wol my bane be;", "And deye I wol in certayn,' tho quod she;", "`But bidde him come, er deeth, that thus me threteth,", "Dryve out that goost which in myn herte beteth.'", "", "Thise wordes seyd, she on hir armes two", "Fil gruf, and gan to wepe pitously.", "Quod Pandarus, `Allas! Why do ye so,", "Syn wel ye woot the tyme is faste by,", "That he shal come? Arys up hastely,", "That he yow nat biwopen thus ne finde,", "But ye wol have him wood out of his minde!", "", "`For wiste he that ye ferde in this manere,", "He wolde him-selve slee; and if I wende", "To han this fare, he sholde not come here", "For al the good that Pryam may despende.", "For to what fyn he wolde anoon pretende,", "That knowe I wel; and for-thy yet I seye,", "So leef this sorwe, or platly he wol deye.", "", "`And shapeth yow his sorwe for to abregge,", "And nought encresse, leve nece swete;", "Beth rather to him cause of flat than egge,", "And with som wysdom ye his sorwes bete.", "What helpeth it to wepen ful a strete,", "Or though ye bothe in salte teres dreynte?", "Bet is a tyme of cure ay than of pleynte.", "", "`I mene thus; whan I him hider bringe,", "Sin ye ben wyse, and bothe of oon assent,", "So shapeth how distourbe your goinge,", "Or come ayen, sone after ye be went.", "Wommen ben wyse in short avysement;", "And lat sen how your wit shal now avayle;", "And what that I may helpe, it shal not fayle.'", "", "`Go,' quod Criseyde, `and uncle, trewely,", "I shal don al my might, me to restreyne", "From weping in his sighte, and bisily,", "Him for to glade, I shal don al my peyne,", "And in myn herte seken every veyne;", "If to this soor ther may be founden salve,", "It shal not lakken, certain, on myn halve.'", "", "Goth Pandarus, and Troilus he soughte,", "Til in a temple he fond him allone,", "As he that of his lyf no lenger roughte;", "But to the pitouse goddes everichone", "Ful tendrely he preyde, and made his mone,", "To doon him sone out of this world to pace;", "For wel he thoughte ther was non other grace.", "", "And shortly, al the sothe for to seye,", "He was so fallen in despeyr that day,", "That outrely he shoop him for to deye.", "For right thus was his argument alwey:", "He seyde, he nas but loren, waylawey!", "`For al that comth, comth by necessitee;", "Thus to be lorn, it is my destinee.", "", "`For certaynly, this wot I wel,' he seyde,", "`That for-sight of divyne purveyaunce", "Hath seyn alwey me to for-gon Criseyde,", "Sin god seeth every thing, out of doutaunce,", "And hem disponeth, thourgh his ordenaunce,", "In hir merytes sothly for to be,", "As they shul comen by predestinee.", "", "`But nathelees, allas! Whom shal I leve?", "For ther ben grete clerkes many oon,", "That destinee thorugh argumentes preve;", "And som men seyn that nedely ther is noon;", "But that free chois is yeven us everichoon.", "O, welaway! So sleye arn clerkes olde,", "That I not whos opinion I may holde.", "", "`For som men seyn, if god seth al biforn,", "Ne god may not deceyved ben, pardee,", "Than moot it fallen, though men hadde it sworn,", "That purveyaunce hath seyn bifore to be.", "Wherfor I seye, that from eterne if he", "Hath wist biforn our thought eek as our dede,", "We have no free chois, as these clerkes rede.", "", "`For other thought nor other dede also", "Might never be, but swich as purveyaunce,", "Which may not ben deceyved never-mo,", "Hath feled biforn, with-outen ignoraunce.", "For if ther mighte been a variaunce", "To wrythen out fro goddes purveyinge,", "Ther nere no prescience of thing cominge;", "", "`But it were rather an opinioun", "Uncerteyn, and no stedfast forseinge;", "And certes, that were an abusioun,", "That god shuld han no parfit cleer witinge", "More than we men that han doutous weninge.", "But swich an errour up-on god to gesse", "Were fals and foul, and wikked corsednesse.", "", "`Eek this is an opinioun of somme", "That han hir top ful heighe and smothe y-shore;", "They seyn right thus, that thing is not to come", "For that the prescience hath seyn bifore", "That it shal come; but they seyn that therfore", "That it shal come, therfore the purveyaunce", "Wot it biforn with-outen ignoraunce;", "", "`And in this manere this necessitee", "Retorneth in his part contrarie agayn.", "For needfully bihoveth it not to be", "That thilke thinges fallen in certayn", "That ben purveyed; but nedely, as they seyn,", "Bihoveth it that thinges, whiche that falle,", "That they in certayn ben purveyed alle.", "", "`I mene as though I laboured me in this,", "To enqueren which thing cause of which thing be;", "As whether that the prescience of god is", "The certayn cause of the necessitee", "Of thinges that to comen been, pardee;", "Or if necessitee of thing cominge", "Be cause certeyn of the purveyinge.", "", "`But now ne enforce I me nat in shewinge", "How the ordre of causes stant; but wel wot I,", "That it bihoveth that the bifallinge", "Of thinges wist biforen certeynly", "Be necessarie, al seme it not ther-by", "That prescience put falling necessaire", "To thing to come, al falle it foule or faire.", "", "`For if ther sit a man yond on a see,", "Than by necessitee bihoveth it", "That, certes, thyn opinioun soth be,", "That wenest or coniectest that he sit;", "And ferther-over now ayenward yit,", "Lo, right so it is of the part contrarie,", "As thus; (now herkne, for I wol not tarie):", "", "`I seye, that if the opinioun of thee", "Be sooth, for that he sit, than seye I this,", "That he mot sitten by necessitee;", "And thus necessitee in either is.", "For in him nede of sittinge is, y-wis,", "And in thee nede of sooth; and thus, forsothe,", "Ther moot necessitee ben in yow bothe.", "", "`But thou mayst seyn, the man sit not therfore,", "That thyn opinioun of sitting soth is;", "But rather, for the man sit ther bifore,", "Therfore is thyn opinioun sooth, y-wis.", "And I seye, though the cause of sooth of this", "Comth of his sitting, yet necessitee", "Is entrechaunged, bothe in him and thee.", "", "`Thus on this same wyse, out of doutaunce,", "I may wel maken, as it semeth me,", "My resoninge of goddes purveyaunce,", "And of the thinges that to comen be;", "By whiche reson men may wel y-see,", "That thilke thinges that in erthe falle,", "That by necessitee they comen alle.", "", "`For al-though that, for thing shal come, y-wis,", "Therfore is it purveyed, certaynly,", "Nat that it comth for it purveyed is:", "Yet nathelees, bihoveth it nedfully,", "That thing to come be purveyed, trewely;", "Or elles, thinges that purveyed be,", "That they bityden by necessitee.", "", "`And this suffyseth right y-now, certeyn,", "For to destroye our free chois every del. --", "But now is this abusion, to seyn,", "That fallinge of the thinges temporel", "Is cause of goddes prescience eternel.", "Now trewely, that is a fals sentence,", "That thing to come sholde cause his prescience.", "", "`What mighte I wene, and I hadde swich a thought,", "But that god purveyth thing that is to come", "For that it is to come, and elles nought?", "So mighte I wene that thinges alle and some,", "That whylom been bifalle and over-come,", "Ben cause of thilke sovereyn purveyaunce,", "That for-wot al with-outen ignoraunce.", "", "`And over al this, yet seye I more herto,", "That right as whan I woot ther is a thing,", "Y-wis, that thing mot nedefully be so;", "Eek right so, whan I woot a thing coming,", "So mot it come; and thus the bifalling", "Of thinges that ben wist bifore the tyde,", "They mowe not been eschewed on no syde.'", "", "Than seyde he thus, `Almighty Iove in trone,", "That wost of al this thing the soothfastnesse,", "Rewe on my sorwe, or do me deye sone,", "Or bring Criseyde and me fro this distresse.'", "And whyl he was in al this hevinesse,", "Disputinge with him-self in this matere,", "Com Pandare in, and seyde as ye may here.", "", "`O mighty god,' quod Pandarus, `in trone,", "Ey! Who seigh ever a wys man faren so?", "Why, Troilus, what thenkestow to done?", "Hastow swich lust to been thyn owene fo?", "What, parde, yet is not Criseyde a-go!", "Why list thee so thy-self for-doon for drede,", "That in thyn heed thyn eyen semen dede?", "", "`Hastow not lived many a yeer biforn", "With-outen hir, and ferd ful wel at ese?", "Artow for hir and for non other born?", "Hath kinde thee wroughte al-only hir to plese?", "Lat be, and thenk right thus in thy disese.", "That, in the dees right as ther fallen chaunces,", "Right so in love, ther come and goon plesaunces.", "", "`And yet this is a wonder most of alle,", "Why thou thus sorwest, sin thou nost not yit,", "Touching hir goinge, how that it shal falle,", "Ne if she can hir-self distorben it.", "Thou hast not yet assayed al hir wit.", "A man may al by tyme his nekke bede", "Whan it shal of, and sorwen at the nede.", "", "`For-thy take hede of that that I shal seye;", "I have with hir y-spoke and longe y-be,", "So as accorded was bitwixe us tweye.", "And ever-mor me thinketh thus, that she", "Hath som-what in hir hertes prevetee,", "Wher-with she can, if I shal right arede,", "Distorbe al this, of which thou art in drede.", "", "`For which my counseil is, whan it is night,", "Thou to hir go, and make of this an ende;", "And blisful Iuno, thourgh hir grete mighte,", "Shal, as I hope, hir grace un-to us sende.", "Myn herte seyth, \"Certeyn, she shal not wende;\"", "And for-thy put thyn herte a whyle in reste;", "And hold this purpos, for it is the beste.'", "", "This Troilus answerde, and sighte sore,", "`Thou seyst right wel, and I wil do right so;'", "And what him liste, he seyde un-to it more.", "And whan that it was tyme for to go,", "Ful prevely him-self, with-outen mo,", "Un-to hir com, as he was wont to done;", "And how they wroughte, I shal yow telle sone.", "", "Soth is, that whan they gonne first to mete,", "So gan the peyne hir hertes for to twiste,", "That neither of hem other mighte grete,", "But hem in armes toke and after kiste.", "The lasse wofulle of hem bothe niste", "Wher that he was, ne mighte o word out-bringe,", "As I seyde erst, for wo and for sobbinge.", "", "Tho woful teres that they leten falle", "As bittre weren, out of teres kinde,", "For peyne, as is ligne aloes or galle.", "So bittre teres weep nought, as I finde,", "The woful Myrra through the bark and rinde.", "That in this world ther nis so hard an herte,", "That nolde han rewed on hir peynes smerte.", "", "But whan hir woful wery gostes tweyne", "Retorned been ther-as hem oughte dwelle,", "And that som-what to wayken gan the peyne", "By lengthe of pleynte, and ebben gan the welle", "Of hire teres, and the herte unswelle,", "With broken voys, al hoors for-shright, Criseyde", "To Troilus thise ilke wordes seyde:", "", "`O Iove, I deye, and mercy I beseche!", "Help, Troilus!' And ther-with-al hir face", "Upon his brest she leyde, and loste speche;", "Hir woful spirit from his propre place,", "Right with the word, alwey up poynt to pace.", "And thus she lyth with hewes pale and grene,", "That whylom fresh and fairest was to sene.", "", "This Troilus, that on hir gan biholde,", "Clepinge hir name, (and she lay as for deed,", "With-oute answere, and felte hir limes colde,", "Hir eyen throwen upward to hir heed),", "This sorwful man can now noon other reed,", "But ofte tyme hir colde mouth he kiste;", "Wher him was wo, god and him-self it wiste!", "", "He rist him up, and long streight he hir leyde;", "For signe of lyf, for ought he can or may,", "Can he noon finde in no-thing on Criseyde,", "For which his song ful ofte is `weylaway!'", "But whan he saugh that specheles she lay,", "With sorwful voys and herte of blisse al bare,", "He seyde how she was fro this world y-fare!", "", "So after that he longe hadde hir compleyned,", "His hondes wrong, and seyde that was to seye,", "And with his teres salte hir brest bireyned,", "He gan tho teris wypen of ful dreye,", "And pitously gan for the soule preye,", "And seyde, `O lord, that set art in thy trone,", "Rewe eek on me, for I shal folwe hir sone!'", "", "She cold was and with-outen sentement,", "For aught he woot, for breeth ne felte he noon;", "And this was him a preignant argument", "That she was forth out of this world agoon;", "And whan he seigh ther was non other woon,", "He gan hir limes dresse in swich manere", "As men don hem that shul be leyd on bere.", "", "And after this, with sterne and cruel herte,", "His swerd a-noon out of his shethe he twighte,", "Him-self to sleen, how sore that him smerte,", "So that his sowle hir sowle folwen mighte,", "Ther-as the doom of Mynos wolde it dighte;", "Sin love and cruel Fortune it ne wolde,", "That in this world he lenger liven sholde.", "", "Thanne seyde he thus, fulfild of heigh desdayn,", "`O cruel Iove, and thou, Fortune adverse,", "This al and som, that falsly have ye slayn", "Criseyde, and sin ye may do me no werse,", "Fy on your might and werkes so diverse!", "Thus cowardly ye shul me never winne;", "Ther shal no deeth me fro my lady twinne.", "", "`For I this world, sin ye han slayn hir thus,", "Wol lete, and folowe hir spirit lowe or hye;", "Shal never lover seyn that Troilus", "Dar not, for fere, with his lady dye;", "For certeyn, I wol bere hir companye.", "But sin ye wol not suffre us liven here,", "Yet suffreth that our soules ben y-fere.", "", "`And thou, citee, whiche that I leve in wo,", "And thou, Pryam, and bretheren al y-fere,", "And thou, my moder, farwel! For I go;", "And Attropos, make redy thou my bere!", "And thou, Criseyde, o swete herte dere,", "Receyve now my spirit!' wolde he seye,", "With swerd at herte, al redy for to deye", "", "But as god wolde, of swough ther-with she abreyde,", "And gan to syke, and `Troilus' she cryde;", "And he answerde, `Lady myn Criseyde,", "Live ye yet?' and leet his swerd doun glyde.", "`Ye, herte myn, that thanked be Cupyde!'", "Quod she, and ther-with-al she sore sighte;", "And he bigan to glade hir as he mighte;", "", "Took hir in armes two, and kiste hir ofte,", "And hir to glade he dide al his entente;", "For which hir goost, that flikered ay on-lofte,", "In-to hir woful herte ayein it wente.", "But at the laste, as that hir eyen glente", "A-syde, anoon she gan his swerd aspye,", "As it lay bare, and gan for fere crye,", "", "And asked him, why he it hadde out-drawe?", "And Troilus anoon the cause hir tolde,", "And how himself ther-with he wolde have slawe.", "For which Criseyde up-on him gan biholde,", "And gan him in hir armes faste folde,", "And seyde, `O mercy, god, lo, which a dede!", "Allas! How neigh we were bothe dede!", "", "`Thanne if I ne hadde spoken, as grace was,", "Ye wolde han slayn your-self anoon?' quod she.", "`Ye, douteless;' and she answerde, `Allas!", "For, by that ilke lord that made me,", "I nolde a forlong wey on-lyve han be,", "After your deeth, to han been crouned quene", "Of al the lond the sonne on shyneth shene.", "", "`But with this selve swerd, which that here is,", "My-selve I wolde han slayn!' -- quod she tho;", "`But ho, for we han right y-now of this,", "And late us ryse and streight to bedde go", "And there lat ys speken of oure wo.", "For, by the morter which that I see brenne,", "Knowe I ful wel that day is not fer henne.'", "", "Whan they were in hir bedde, in armes folde,", "Nought was it lyk tho nightes here-biforn;", "For pitously ech other gan biholde,", "As they that hadden al hir blisse y-lorn,", "Biwaylinge ay the day that they were born.", "Til at the last this sorwful wight Criseyde", "To Troilus these ilke wordes seyde: --", "", "`Lo, herte myn, wel wot ye this,' quod she,", "`That if a wight alwey his wo compleyne,", "And seketh nought how holpen for to be,", "It nis but folye and encrees of peyne;", "And sin that here assembled be we tweyne", "To finde bote of wo that we ben inne,", "It were al tyme sone to biginne.", "", "`I am a womman, as ful wel ye woot,", "And as I am avysed sodeynly,", "So wol I telle yow, whyl it is hoot.", "Me thinketh thus, that nouther ye nor I", "Oughte half this wo to make skilfully.", "For there is art y-now for to redresse", "That yet is mis, and sleen this hevinesse.", "", "`Sooth is, the wo, the whiche that we ben inne,", "For ought I woot, for no-thing elles is", "But for the cause that we sholden twinne.", "Considered al, ther nis no-more amis.", "But what is thanne a remede un-to this,", "But that we shape us sone for to mete?", "This al and som, my dere herte swete.", "", "`Now that I shal wel bringen it aboute", "To come ayein, sone after that I go,", "Ther-of am I no maner thing in doute.", "For dredeles, with-inne a wouke or two,", "I shal ben here; and, that it may be so", "By alle right, and in a wordes fewe,", "I shal yow wel an heep of weyes shewe.", "", "`For which I wol not make long sermoun,", "For tyme y-lost may not recovered be;", "But I wol gon to my conclusioun,", "And to the beste, in ought that I can see.", "And, for the love of god, for-yeve it me", "If I speke ought ayein your hertes reste;", "For trewely, I speke it for the beste;", "", "`Makinge alwey a protestacioun,", "That now these wordes, whiche that I shal seye,", "Nis but to shewe yow my mocioun,", "To finde un-to our helpe the beste weye;", "And taketh it non other wyse, I preye.", "For in effect what-so ye me comaunde,", "That wol I doon, for that is no demaunde.", "", "`Now herkneth this, ye han wel understonde,", "My goinge graunted is by parlement", "So ferforth, that it may not be with-stonde", "For al this world, as by my Iugement.", "And sin ther helpeth noon avysement", "To letten it, lat it passe out of minde;", "And lat us shape a bettre wey to finde.", "", "`The sothe is, that the twinninge of us tweyne", "Wol us disese and cruelliche anoye.", "But him bihoveth som-tyme han a peyne,", "That serveth love, if that he wol have Ioye.", "And sin I shal no ferthere out of Troye", "Than I may ryde ayein on half a morwe,", "It oughte lesse causen us to sorwe.", "", "`So as I shal not so ben hid in muwe,", "That day by day, myn owene herte dere,", "Sin wel ye woot that it is now a trewe,", "Ye shal ful wel al myn estat y-here.", "And er that truwe is doon, I shal ben here,", "And thanne have ye bothe Antenor y-wonne", "And me also; beth glad now, if ye conne;", "", "`And thenk right thus, \"Criseyde is now agoon,", "But what! She shal come hastely ayeyn;\"", "And whanne, allas? By god, lo, right anoon,", "Er dayes ten, this dar I saufly seyn.", "And thanne at erste shul we been so fayn,", "So as we shulle to-gederes ever dwelle,", "That al this world ne mighte our blisse telle.", "", "`I see that ofte, ther-as we ben now,", "That for the beste, our counseil for to hyde,", "Ye speke not with me, nor I with yow", "In fourtenight; ne see yow go ne ryde.", "May ye not ten dayes thanne abyde,", "For myn honour, in swich an aventure?", "Y-wis, ye mowen elles lite endure!", "", "`Ye knowe eek how that al my kin is here,", "But-if that onliche it my fader be;", "And eek myn othere thinges alle y-fere,", "And nameliche, my dere herte, ye,", "Whom that I nolde leven for to see", "For al this world, as wyd as it hath space;", "Or elles, see ich never Ioves face!", "", "`Why trowe ye my fader in this wyse", "Coveiteth so to see me, but for drede", "Lest in this toun that folkes me dispyse", "By-cause of him, for his unhappy dede?", "What woot my fader what lyf that I lede?", "For if he wiste in Troye how wel I fare,", "Us neded for my wending nought to care.", "", "`Ye seen that every day eek, more and more,", "Men trete of pees; and it supposed is,", "That men the quene Eleyne shal restore,", "And Grekes us restore that is mis.", "So though ther nere comfort noon but this,", "That men purposen pees on every syde,", "Ye may the bettre at ese of herte abyde.", "", "`For if that it be pees, myn herte dere,", "The nature of the pees mot nedes dryve", "That men moste entrecomunen y-fere,", "And to and fro eek ryde and gon as blyve", "Alday as thikke as been flen from an hyve;", "And every wight han libertee to bleve", "Where-as him list the bet, with-outen leve.", "", "`And though so be that pees ther may be noon,", "Yet hider, though ther never pees ne were,", "I moste come; for whider sholde I goon,", "Or how mischaunce sholde I dwelle there", "Among tho men of armes ever in fere?", "For which, as wisly god my soule rede,", "I can not seen wher-of ye sholden drede.", "", "`Have here another wey, if it so be", "That al this thing ne may yow not suffyse.", "My fader, as ye knowen wel, pardee,", "Is old, and elde is ful of coveityse,", "And I right now have founden al the gyse,", "With-oute net, wher-with I shal him hente;", "And herkeneth how, if that ye wole assente.", "", "`Lo, Troilus, men seyn that hard it is", "The wolf ful, and the wether hool to have;", "This is to seyn, that men ful ofte, y-wis,", "Mot spenden part, the remenant for to save.", "For ay with gold men may the herte grave", "Of him that set is up-on coveityse;", "And how I mene, I shal it yow devyse.", "", "`The moeble which that I have in this toun", "Un-to my fader shal I take, and seye,", "That right for trust and for savacioun", "It sent is from a freend of his or tweye,", "The whiche freendes ferventliche him preye", "To senden after more, and that in hye,", "Whyl that this toun stant thus in Iupartye.", "", "`And that shal been an huge quantitee,", "Thus shal I seyn, but, lest it folk aspyde,", "This may be sent by no wight but by me;", "I shal eek shewen him, if pees bityde,", "What frendes that ich have on every syde", "Toward the court, to doon the wrathe pace", "Of Priamus, and doon him stonde in grace.", "", "`So what for o thing and for other, swete,", "I shal him so enchaunten with my sawes,", "That right in hevene his sowle is, shal he mete!", "For al Appollo, or his clerkes lawes,", "Or calculinge avayleth nought three hawes;", "Desyr of gold shal so his sowle blende,", "That, as me lyst, I shal wel make an ende.", "", "`And if he wolde ought by his sort it preve", "If that I lye, in certayn I shal fonde", "Distorben him, and plukke him by the sleve,", "Makinge his sort, and beren him on honde,", "He hath not wel the goddes understonde.", "For goddes speken in amphibologyes,", "And, for o sooth they tellen twenty lyes.", "", "`Eek drede fond first goddes, I suppose,", "Thus shal I seyn, and that his cowarde herte", "Made him amis the goddes text to glose,", "Whan he for ferde out of his Delphos sterte.", "And but I make him sone to converte,", "And doon my reed with-inne a day or tweye,", "I wol to yow oblige me to deye.'", "", "And treweliche, as writen wel I finde,", "That al this thing was seyd of good entente;", "And that hir herte trewe was and kinde", "Towardes him, and spak right as she mente,", "And that she starf for wo neigh, whan she wente,", "And was in purpos ever to be trewe;", "Thus writen they that of hir werkes knewe.", "", "This Troilus, with herte and eres spradde,", "Herde al this thing devysen to and fro;", "And verraylich him semed that he hadde", "The selve wit; but yet to lete hir go", "His herte misforyaf him ever-mo.", "But fynally, he gan his herte wreste", "To trusten hir, and took it for the beste.", "", "For which the grete furie of his penaunce", "Was queynt with hope, and ther-with hem bitwene", "Bigan for Ioye the amorouse daunce.", "And as the briddes, whan the sonne is shene,", "Delyten in hir song in leves grene,", "Right so the wordes that they spake y-fere", "Delyted hem, and made hir hertes clere.", "", "But natheles, the wending of Criseyde,", "For al this world, may nought out of his minde;", "For which ful ofte he pitously hir preyde,", "That of hir heste he might hir trewe finde,", "And seyde hire, `Certes, if ye be unkinde,", "And but ye come at day set in-to Troye,", "Ne shal I never have hele, honour, ne Ioye.", "", "`For al-so sooth as sonne up-rist on morwe,", "And, god! So wisly thou me, woful wrecche,", "To reste bringe out of this cruel sorwe,", "I wol my-selven slee if that ye drecche.", "But of my deeth though litel be to recche,", "Yet, er that ye me cause so to smerte,", "Dwel rather here, myn owene swete herte!", "", "`For trewely, myn owene lady dere,", "Tho sleightes yet that I have herd yow stere", "Ful shaply been to failen alle y-fere.", "For thus men seyn, \"That oon thenketh the bere,", "But al another thenketh his ledere.\"", "Your sire is wys, and seyd is, out of drede,", "\"Men may the wyse at-renne, and not at-rede.\"", "", "`It is ful hard to halten unespyed", "Bifore a crepul, for he can the craft;", "Your fader is in sleighte as Argus yed;", "For al be that his moeble is him biraft,", "His olde sleighte is yet so with him laft,", "Ye shal not blende him for your womanhede,", "Ne feyne a-right, and that is al my drede.", "", "`I noot if pees shal ever-mo bityde;", "But, pees or no, for ernest ne for game,", "I woot, sin Calkas on the Grekis syde", "Hath ones been, and lost so foule his name,", "He dar no more come here ayein for shame;", "For which that weye, for ought I can espye,", "To trusten on, nis but a fantasye.", "", "`Ye shal eek seen, your fader shal yow glose", "To been a wyf, and as he can wel preche,", "He shal som Grek so preyse and wel alose,", "That ravisshen he shal yow with his speche,", "Or do yow doon by force as he shal teche.", "And Troilus, of whom ye nil han routhe,", "Shal causeles so sterven in his trouthe!", "", "`And over al this, your fader shal despyse", "Us alle, and seyn this citee nis but lorn;", "And that thassege never shal aryse,", "For-why the Grekes han it alle sworn", "Til we be slayn, and doun our walles torn.", "And thus he shal yow with his wordes fere,", "That ay drede I, that ye wol bleve there.", "", "`Ye shul eek seen so many a lusty knight", "A-mong the Grekes, ful of worthinesse,", "And eche of hem with herte, wit, and might", "To plesen yow don al his besinesse,", "That ye shul dullen of the rudenesse", "Of us sely Troianes, but-if routhe", "Remorde yow, or vertue of your trouthe.", "", "`And this to me so grevous is to thinke,", "That fro my brest it wol my soule rende;", "Ne dredeles, in me ther may not sinke", "A good opinioun, if that ye wende;", "For-why your faderes sleighte wol us shende.", "And if ye goon, as I have told yow yore,", "So thenk I nam but deed, with-oute more.", "", "`For which, with humble, trewe, and pitous herte,", "A thousand tymes mercy I yow preye;", "So reweth on myn aspre peynes smerte,", "And doth somwhat, as that I shal yow seye,", "And lat us stele away bitwixe us tweye;", "And thenk that folye is, whan man may chese,", "For accident his substaunce ay to lese.", "", "`I mene this, that sin we mowe er day", "Wel stele away, and been to-gider so,", "What wit were it to putten in assay,", "In cas ye sholden to your fader go,", "If that ye mighte come ayein or no?", "Thus mene I, that it were a gret folye", "To putte that sikernesse in Iupertye.", "", "`And vulgarly to speken of substaunce", "Of tresour, may we bothe with us lede", "Y-nough to live in honour and plesaunce,", "Til in-to tyme that we shal ben dede;", "And thus we may eschewen al this drede.", "For everich other wey ye can recorde,", "Myn herte, y-wis, may not ther-with acorde.", "", "`And hardily, ne dredeth no poverte,", "For I have kin and freendes elles-where", "That, though we comen in oure bare sherte,", "Us sholde neither lakke gold ne gere,", "But been honured whyl we dwelten there.", "And go we anoon, for, as in myn entente,", "This is the beste, if that ye wole assente.'", "", "Criseyde, with a syk, right in this wyse", "Answerde, `Y-wis, my dere herte trewe,", "We may wel stele away, as ye devyse,", "And finde swich unthrifty weyes newe;", "But afterward, ful sore it wol us rewe.", "And help me god so at my moste nede", "As causeles ye suffren al this drede!", "", "`For thilke day that I for cherisshinge", "Or drede of fader, or of other wight,", "Or for estat, delyt, or for weddinge,", "Be fals to yow, my Troilus, my knight,", "Saturnes doughter, Iuno, thorugh hir might,", "As wood as Athamante do me dwelle", "Eternaly in Stix, the put of helle!", "", "`And this on every god celestial", "I swere it yow; and eek on eche goddesse,", "On every Nymphe and deite infernal,", "On Satiry and Fauny more and lesse,", "That halve goddes been of wildernesse;", "And Attropos my threed of lyf to-breste", "If I be fals; now trowe me if thow leste!", "", "`And thou, Simoys, that as an arwe clere", "Thorugh Troye rennest ay downward to the see,", "Ber witnesse of this word that seyd is here,", "That thilke day that ich untrewe be", "To Troilus, myn owene herte free,", "That thou retorne bakwarde to thy welle,", "And I with body and soule sinke in helle!", "", "`But that ye speke, awey thus for to go", "And leten alle your freendes, god for-bede,", "For any womman, that ye sholden so,", "And namely, sin Troye hath now swich nede", "Of help; and eek of o thing taketh hede,", "If this were wist, my lif laye in balaunce,", "And your honour; god shilde us fro mischaunce!", "", "`And if so be that pees her-after take,", "As alday happeth, after anger, game,", "Why, lord! The sorwe and wo ye wolden make,", "That ye ne dorste come ayein for shame!", "And er that ye Iuparten so your name,", "Beth nought to hasty in this hote fare;", "For hasty man ne wanteth never care.", "", "`What trowe ye the peple eek al aboute", "Wolde of it seye? It is ful light to arede.", "They wolden seye, and swere it, out of doute,", "That love ne droof yow nought to doon this dede,", "But lust voluptuous and coward drede.", "Thus were al lost, y-wis, myn herte dere,", "Your honour, which that now shyneth so clere.", "", "`And also thenketh on myn honestee,", "That floureth yet, how foule I sholde it shende,", "And with what filthe it spotted sholde be,", "If in this forme I sholde with yow wende.", "Ne though I livede un-to the worldes ende,", "My name sholde I never ayeinward winne;", "Thus were I lost, and that were routhe and sinne.", "", "`And for-thy slee with reson al this hete;", "Men seyn, \"The suffraunt overcometh,\" pardee;", "Eek \"Who-so wol han leef, he lief mot lete;\"", "Thus maketh vertue of necessitee", "By pacience, and thenk that lord is he", "Of fortune ay, that nought wol of hir recche;", "And she ne daunteth no wight but a wrecche.", "", "`And trusteth this, that certes, herte swete,", "Er Phebus suster, Lucina the shene,", "The Leoun passe out of this Ariete,", "I wol ben here, with-outen any wene.", "I mene, as helpe me Iuno, hevenes quene,", "The tenthe day, but-if that deeth me assayle,", "I wol yow seen with-outen any fayle.'", "", "`And now, so this be sooth,' quod Troilus,", "`I shal wel suffre un-to the tenthe day,", "Sin that I see that nede it moot be thus.", "But, for the love of god, if it be may,", "So lat us stele prively away;", "For ever in oon, as for to live in reste,", "Myn herte seyth that it wol been the beste.'", "", "`O mercy, god, what lyf is this?' quod she;", "`Allas, ye slee me thus for verray tene!", "I see wel now that ye mistrusten me;", "For by your wordes it is wel y-sene.", "Now, for the love of Cynthia the shene,", "Mistrust me not thus causeles, for routhe;", "Sin to be trewe I have yow plight my trouthe.", "", "`And thenketh wel, that som tyme it is wit", "To spende a tyme, a tyme for to winne;", "Ne, pardee, lorn am I nought fro yow yit,", "Though that we been a day or two a-twinne.", "Dryf out the fantasyes yow with-inne;", "And trusteth me, and leveth eek your sorwe,", "Or here my trouthe, I wol not live til morwe.", "", "`For if ye wiste how sore it doth me smerte,", "Ye wolde cesse of this; for god, thou wost,", "The pure spirit wepeth in myn herte,", "To see yow wepen that I love most,", "And that I moot gon to the Grekes ost.", "Ye, nere it that I wiste remedye", "To come ayein, right here I wolde dye!", "", "`But certes, I am not so nyce a wight", "That I ne can imaginen a wey", "To come ayein that day that I have hight.", "For who may holde thing that wol a-way?", "My fader nought, for al his queynte pley.", "And by my thrift, my wending out of Troye", "Another day shal torne us alle to Ioye.", "", "`For-thy, with al myn herte I yow beseke,", "If that yow list don ought for my preyere,", "And for the love which that I love yow eke,", "That er that I departe fro yow here,", "That of so good a comfort and a chere", "I may you seen, that ye may bringe at reste", "Myn herte, which that is at point to breste.", "", "`And over al this I pray yow,' quod she tho,", "`Myn owene hertes soothfast suffisaunce,", "Sin I am thyn al hool, with-outen mo,", "That whyl that I am absent, no plesaunce", "Of othere do me fro your remembraunce.", "For I am ever a-gast, for-why men rede,", "That \"love is thing ay ful of bisy drede.\"", "", "`For in this world ther liveth lady noon,", "If that ye were untrewe, as god defende!", "That so bitraysed were or wo bigoon", "As I, that alle trouthe in yow entende.", "And douteles, if that ich other wende,", "I nere but deed; and er ye cause finde,", "For goddes love, so beth me not unkinde.'", "", "To this answerde Troilus and seyde,", "`Now god, to whom ther nis no cause y-wrye,", "Me glade, as wis I never un-to Criseyde,", "Sin thilke day I saw hir first with ye,", "Was fals, ne never shal til that I dye.", "At shorte wordes, wel ye may me leve;", "I can no more, it shal be founde at preve.'", "", "`Graunt mercy, goode myn, y-wis,' quod she,", "`And blisful Venus lat me never sterve", "Er I may stonde of plesaunce in degree", "To quyte him wel, that so wel can deserve;", "And whyl that god my wit wol me conserve,", "I shal so doon, so trewe I have yow founde,", "That ay honour to me-ward shal rebounde.", "", "`For trusteth wel, that your estat royal", "Ne veyn delyt, nor only worthinesse", "Of yow in werre, or torney marcial,", "Ne pompe, array, nobley, or eek richesse,", "Ne made me to rewe on your distresse;", "But moral vertue, grounded upon trouthe,", "That was the cause I first hadde on yow routhe!", "", "`Eek gentil herte and manhod that ye hadde,", "And that ye hadde, as me thoughte, in despyt", "Every thing that souned in-to badde,", "As rudenesse and poeplish appetyt;", "And that your reson brydled your delyt,", "This made, aboven every creature,", "That I was your, and shal, whyl I may dure.", "", "`And this may lengthe of yeres not for-do,", "Ne remuable fortune deface;", "But Iuppiter, that of his might may do", "The sorwful to be glad, so yeve us grace,", "Er nightes ten, to meten in this place,", "So that it may your herte and myn suffyse;", "And fareth now wel, for tyme is that ye ryse.'", "", "And after that they longe y-pleyned hadde,", "And ofte y-kist, and streite in armes folde,", "The day gan ryse, and Troilus him cladde,", "And rewfulliche his lady gan biholde,", "As he that felte dethes cares colde,", "And to hir grace he gan him recomaunde;", "Wher him was wo, this holde I no demaunde.", "", "For mannes heed imaginen ne can,", "Ne entendement considere, ne tonge telle", "The cruel peynes of this sorwful man,", "That passen every torment doun in helle.", "For whan he saugh that she ne mighte dwelle,", "Which that his soule out of his herte rente,", "With-outen more, out of the chaumbre he wente.", "" ], "linecount": "1949" }, { "title": "Sonnet 51: Thus can my love excuse the slow offence", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Thus can my love excuse the slow offence", "Of my dull bearer when from thee I speed:", "From where thou art why should I haste me thence?", "Till I return, of posting is no need.", "O! what excuse will my poor beast then find,", "When swift extremity can seem but slow?", "Then should I spur, though mounted on the wind,", "In winged speed no motion shall I know,", "Then can no horse with my desire keep pace;", "Therefore desire, of perfect'st love being made,", "Shall neigh--no dull flesh--in his fiery race;", "But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade,--", " 'Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,", " Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.'" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 126: O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power", "Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his fickle hour;", "Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st", "Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st.", "If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,", "As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back,", "She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill", "May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.", "Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!", "She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:", " Her audit (though delayed) answered must be,", " And her quietus is to render thee." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "When my love swears that she is made of truth,", "I do believe her though I know she lies,", "That she might think me some untutor'd youth,", "Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.", "Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,", "Although she knows my days are past the best,", "Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:", "On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed:", "But wherefore says she not she is unjust?", "And wherefore say not I that I am old?", "O! love's best habit is in seeming trust,", "And age in love, loves not to have years told:", " Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,", " And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "If thy soul check thee that I come so near,", "Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy 'Will',", "And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;", "Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.", "'Will', will fulfil the treasure of thy love,", "Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.", "In things of great receipt with ease we prove", "Among a number one is reckon'd none:", "Then in the number let me pass untold,", "Though in thy store's account I one must be;", "For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold", "That nothing me, a something sweet to thee:", " Make but my name thy love, and love that still,", " And then thou lov'st me for my name is 'Will.'" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 63: Against my love shall be as I am now", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Against my love shall be as I am now,", "With Time's injurious hand crush'd and o'erworn;", "When hours have drain'd his blood and fill'd his brow", "With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn", "Hath travell'd on to age's steepy night;", "And all those beauties whereof now he's king", "Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight,", "Stealing away the treasure of his spring;", "For such a time do I now fortify", "Against confounding age's cruel knife,", "That he shall never cut from memory", "My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life:", " His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,", " And they shall live, and he in them still green." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 107: Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul", "Of the wide world dreaming on things to come,", "Can yet the lease of my true love control,", "Supposed as forfeit to a confin'd doom.", "The mortal moon hath her eclipse endur'd,", "And the sad augurs mock their own presage;", "Incertainties now crown themselves assur'd,", "And peace proclaims olives of endless age.", "Now with the drops of this most balmy time,", "My love looks fresh, and Death to me subscribes,", "Since, spite of him, I'll live in this poor rime,", "While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes:", " And thou in this shalt find thy monument,", " When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 31: Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts,", "Which I by lacking have supposed dead;", "And there reigns Love, and all Love's loving parts,", "And all those friends which I thought buried.", "How many a holy and obsequious tear", "Hath dear religious love stol'n from mine eye,", "As interest of the dead, which now appear", "But things remov'd that hidden in thee lie!", "Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,", "Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,", "Who all their parts of me to thee did give,", "That due of many now is thine alone:", " Their images I lov'd, I view in thee,", " And thou--all they--hast all the all of me." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;", "Coral is far more red, than her lips red:", "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;", "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.", "I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,", "But no such roses see I in her cheeks;", "And in some perfumes is there more delight", "Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.", "I love to hear her speak, yet well I know", "That music hath a far more pleasing sound:", "I grant I never saw a goddess go,--", "My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:", " And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,", " As any she belied with false compare." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 47: Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,", "And each doth good turns now unto the other:", "When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,", "Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,", "With my love's picture then my eye doth feast,", "And to the painted banquet bids my heart;", "Another time mine eye is my heart's guest,", "And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:", "So, either by thy picture or my love,", "Thy self away, art present still with me;", "For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,", "And I am still with them, and they with thee;", " Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight", " Awakes my heart, to heart's and eye's delight." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 102: My love is strengthen'd, though more weak in seeming", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "My love is strengthen'd, though more weak in seeming;", "I love not less, though less the show appear;", "That love is merchandiz'd, whose rich esteeming,", "The owner's tongue doth publish every where.", "Our love was new, and then but in the spring,", "When I was wont to greet it with my lays;", "As Philomel in summer's front doth sing,", "And stops her pipe in growth of riper days:", "Not that the summer is less pleasant now", "Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night,", "But that wild music burthens every bough,", "And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.", " Therefore like her, I sometime hold my tongue:", " Because I would not dull you with my song." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 42: That thou hast her it is not all my grief", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "That thou hast her it is not all my grief,", "And yet it may be said I loved her dearly;", "That she hath thee is of my wailing chief,", "A loss in love that touches me more nearly.", "Loving offenders thus I will excuse ye:", "Thou dost love her, because thou know'st I love her;", "And for my sake even so doth she abuse me,", "Suffering my friend for my sake to approve her.", "If I lose thee, my loss is my love's gain,", "And losing her, my friend hath found that loss;", "Both find each other, and I lose both twain,", "And both for my sake lay on me this cross:", " But here's the joy; my friend and I are one;", " Sweet flattery! then she loves but me alone." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 32: If thou survive my well-contented day", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "If thou survive my well-contented day,", "When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover", "And shalt by fortune once more re-survey", "These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,", "Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,", "And though they be outstripp'd by every pen,", "Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,", "Exceeded by the height of happier men.", "O! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:", "'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,", "A dearer birth than this his love had brought,", "To march in ranks of better equipage:", " But since he died and poets better prove,", " Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love'." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 99: The forward violet thus did I chide", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "The forward violet thus did I chide: ", "Sweet thief, whence didst thou steal thy sweet that smells,", "If not from my love's breath? The purple pride", "Which on thy soft cheek for complexion dwells", "In my love's veins thou hast too grossly dy'd.", "The lily I condemned for thy hand,", "And buds of marjoram had stol'n thy hair;", "The roses fearfully on thorns did stand,", "One blushing shame, another white despair;", "A third, nor red nor white, had stol'n of both,", "And to his robbery had annex'd thy breath;", "But, for his theft, in pride of all his growth", "A vengeful canker eat him up to death.", " More flowers I noted, yet I none could see,", " But sweet, or colour it had stol'n from thee." ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "Sonnet 64: When I have seen by Time's fell hand defac'd", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "When I have seen by Time's fell hand defac'd", "The rich-proud cost of outworn buried age;", "When sometime lofty towers I see down-raz'd,", "And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;", "When I have seen the hungry ocean gain", "Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,", "And the firm soil win of the watery main,", "Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;", "When I have seen such interchange of state,", "Or state itself confounded, to decay;", "Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate--", "That Time will come and take my love away.", " This thought is as a death which cannot choose", " But weep to have, that which it fears to lose." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 105: Let not my love be call'd idolatry", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Let not my love be call'd idolatry,", "Nor my beloved as an idol show,", "Since all alike my songs and praises be", "To one, of one, still such, and ever so.", "Kind is my love to-day, to-morrow kind,", "Still constant in a wondrous excellence;", "Therefore my verse to constancy confin'd,", "One thing expressing, leaves out difference.", "'Fair, kind, and true,' is all my argument,", "'Fair, kind, and true,' varying to other words;", "And in this change is my invention spent,", "Three themes in one, which wondrous scope affords.", " Fair, kind, and true, have often liv'd alone,", " Which three till now, never kept seat in one." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 108: What's in the brain, that ink may character", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "What's in the brain, that ink may character,", "Which hath not figur'd to thee my true spirit?", "What's new to speak, what now to register,", "That may express my love, or thy dear merit?", "Nothing, sweet boy; but yet, like prayers divine,", "I must each day say o'er the very same;", "Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,", "Even as when first I hallow'd thy fair name.", "So that eternal love in love's fresh case,", "Weighs not the dust and injury of age,", "Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place,", "But makes antiquity for aye his page;", " Finding the first conceit of love there bred,", " Where time and outward form would show it dead." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 147: My love is as a fever longing still", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "My love is as a fever longing still,", "For that which longer nurseth the disease;", "Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,", "The uncertain sickly appetite to please.", "My reason, the physician to my love,", "Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,", "Hath left me, and I desperate now approve", "Desire is death, which physic did except.", "Past cure I am, now Reason is past care,", "And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;", "My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,", "At random from the truth vainly express'd;", " For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,", " Who art as black as hell, as dark as night." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 76: Why is my verse so barren of new pride", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Why is my verse so barren of new pride,", "So far from variation or quick change?", "Why with the time do I not glance aside", "To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?", "Why write I still all one, ever the same,", "And keep invention in a noted weed,", "That every word doth almost tell my name,", "Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?", "O! know sweet love I always write of you,", "And you and love are still my argument;", "So all my best is dressing old words new,", "Spending again what is already spent:", " For as the sun is daily new and old,", " So is my love still telling what is told." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 61: Is it thy will, thy image should keep open", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Is it thy will, thy image should keep open", "My heavy eyelids to the weary night?", "Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,", "While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?", "Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee", "So far from home into my deeds to pry,", "To find out shames and idle hours in me,", "The scope and tenure of thy jealousy?", "O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:", "It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:", "Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,", "To play the watchman ever for thy sake:", " For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,", " From me far off, with others all too near." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "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": "Sonnet 100: Where art thou Muse that thou forget'st so long", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Where art thou Muse that thou forget'st so long,", "To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?", "Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,", "Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?", "Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem,", "In gentle numbers time so idly spent;", "Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem", "And gives thy pen both skill and argument.", "Rise, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,", "If Time have any wrinkle graven there;", "If any, be a satire to decay,", "And make time's spoils despised every where.", " Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life,", " So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 21: So is it not with me as with that Muse", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "So is it not with me as with that Muse,", "Stirr'd by a painted beauty to his verse,", "Who heaven itself for ornament doth use", "And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,", "Making a couplement of proud compare'", "With sun and moon, with earth and sea's rich gems,", "With April's first-born flowers, and all things rare,", "That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems.", "O! let me, true in love, but truly write,", "And then believe me, my love is as fair", "As any mother's child, though not so bright", "As those gold candles fix'd in heaven's air:", " Let them say more that like of hearsay well;", " I will not praise that purpose not to sell." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 139: O! Call not me to justify the wrong", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "O! call not me to justify the wrong", "That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;", "Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:", "Use power with power, and slay me not by art,", "Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight,", "Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:", "What need'st thou wound with cunning, when thy might", "Is more than my o'erpress'd defence can bide?", "Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows", "Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;", "And therefore from my face she turns my foes,", "That they elsewhere might dart their injuries:", " Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,", " Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 40: Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;", "What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?", "No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;", "All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.", "Then, if for my love, thou my love receivest,", "I cannot blame thee, for my love thou usest;", "But yet be blam'd, if thou thy self deceivest", "By wilful taste of what thyself refusest.", "I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,", "Although thou steal thee all my poverty:", "And yet, love knows it is a greater grief", "To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury.", " Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,", " Kill me with spites yet we must not be foes." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 37: As a decrepit father takes delight", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "As a decrepit father takes delight", "To see his active child do deeds of youth,", "So I, made lame by Fortune's dearest spite,", "Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth;", "For whether beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit,", "Or any of these all, or all, or more,", "Entitled in thy parts, do crowned sit,", "I make my love engrafted, to this store:", "So then I am not lame, poor, nor despis'd,", "Whilst that this shadow doth such substance give", "That I in thy abundance am suffic'd,", "And by a part of all thy glory live.", " Look what is best, that best I wish in thee:", " This wish I have; then ten times happy me!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,", "And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;", "Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,", "And burn the long-liv'd phoenix, in her blood;", "Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,", "And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,", "To the wide world and all her fading sweets;", "But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:", "O! carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,", "Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;", "Him in thy course untainted do allow", "For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.", " Yet, do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong,", " My love shall in my verse ever live young." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 13: O! That you were your self; but, love you are", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "O! that you were your self; but, love you are", "No longer yours, than you your self here live:", "Against this coming end you should prepare,", "And your sweet semblance to some other give:", "So should that beauty which you hold in lease", "Find no determination; then you were", "Yourself again, after yourself's decease,", "When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.", "Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,", "Which husbandry in honour might uphold,", "Against the stormy gusts of winter's day", "And barren rage of death's eternal cold?", " O! none but unthrifts. Dear my love, you know,", " You had a father: let your son say so." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 65: Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,", "But sad mortality o'ersways their power,", "How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,", "Whose action is no stronger than a flower?", "O! how shall summer's honey breath hold out,", "Against the wrackful siege of battering days,", "When rocks impregnable are not so stout,", "Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?", "O fearful meditation! where, alack,", "Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?", "Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?", "Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?", " O! none, unless this miracle have might,", " That in black ink my love may still shine bright." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 66: Tired with all these, for restful death I cry", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,", "As to behold desert a beggar born,", "And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,", "And purest faith unhappily forsworn,", "And gilded honour shamefully misplac'd,", "And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,", "And right perfection wrongfully disgrac'd,", "And strength by limping sway disabled", "And art made tongue-tied by authority,", "And folly--doctor-like--controlling skill,", "And simple truth miscall'd simplicity,", "And captive good attending captain ill:", " Tir'd with all these, from these would I be gone,", " Save that, to die, I leave my love alone." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 88: When thou shalt be dispos'd to set me light", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "When thou shalt be dispos'd to set me light,", "And place my merit in the eye of scorn,", "Upon thy side, against myself I'll fight,", "And prove thee virtuous, though thou art forsworn.", "With mine own weakness, being best acquainted,", "Upon thy part I can set down a story", "Of faults conceal'd, wherein I am attainted;", "That thou in losing me shalt win much glory:", "And I by this will be a gainer too;", "For bending all my loving thoughts on thee,", "The injuries that to myself I do,", "Doing thee vantage, double-vantage me.", " Such is my love, to thee I so belong,", " That for thy right, myself will bear all wrong." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 33: Full many a glorious morning have I seen", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Full many a glorious morning have I seen", "Flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye,", "Kissing with golden face the meadows green,", "Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;", "Anon permit the basest clouds to ride", "With ugly rack on his celestial face,", "And from the forlorn world his visage hide,", "Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:", "Even so my sun one early morn did shine,", "With all triumphant splendour on my brow;", "But out! alack! he was but one hour mine,", "The region cloud hath mask'd him from me now.", " Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;", " Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 35: No more be griev'd at that which thou hast done", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "No more be griev'd at that which thou hast done:", "Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:", "Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,", "And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.", "All men make faults, and even I in this,", "Authorizing thy trespass with compare,", "Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,", "Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are;", "For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense,--", "Thy adverse party is thy advocate,--", "And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence:", "Such civil war is in my love and hate,", " That I an accessary needs must be,", " To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 80: O! How I faint when I of you do write", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "O! how I faint when I of you do write,", "Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,", "And in the praise thereof spends all his might,", "To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame!", "But since your worth--wide as the ocean is,--", "The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,", "My saucy bark, inferior far to his,", "On your broad main doth wilfully appear.", "Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,", "Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;", "Or, being wrack'd, I am a worthless boat,", "He of tall building, and of goodly pride:", " Then if he thrive and I be cast away,", " The worst was this,--my love was my decay." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 101: O truant Muse what shall be thy amends", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "O truant Muse what shall be thy amends", "For thy neglect of truth in beauty dy'd?", "Both truth and beauty on my love depends;", "So dost thou too, and therein dignified.", "Make answer Muse: wilt thou not haply say,", "'Truth needs no colour, with his colour fix'd;", "Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay;", "But best is best, if never intermix'd'?", "Because he needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb?", "Excuse not silence so, for't lies in thee", "To make him much outlive a gilded tomb", "And to be prais'd of ages yet to be.", " Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how", " To make him seem long hence as he shows now." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 26: Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage", "Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,", "To thee I send this written embassage,", "To witness duty, not to show my wit:", "Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine", "May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it,", "But that I hope some good conceit of thine", "In thy soul's thought, all naked, will bestow it:", "Till whatsoever star that guides my moving,", "Points on me graciously with fair aspect,", "And puts apparel on my tatter'd loving,", "To show me worthy of thy sweet respect:", " Then may I dare to boast how I do love thee;", " Till then, not show my head where thou mayst prove me." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Spontaneous Me", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "SPONTANEOUS me, Nature,", "The loving day, the mounting sun, the friend I am happy with,", "The arm of my friend hanging idly over my shoulder,", "The hill-side whiten’d with blossoms of the mountain ash,", "The same, late in autumn—the hues of red, yellow, drab, purple, and light and dark", " green,", "The rich coverlid of the grass—animals and birds—the private untrimm’d", " bank—the primitive apples—the pebble-stones,", "Beautiful dripping fragments—the negligent list of one after another, as I happen to", " call them to me, or think of them,", "The real poems, (what we call poems being merely pictures,)", "The poems of the privacy of the night, and of men like me,", "This poem, drooping shy and unseen, that I always carry, and that all men carry,", "(Know, once for all, avow’d on purpose, wherever are men like me, are our lusty,", " lurking, masculine poems;)", "Love-thoughts, love-juice, love-odor, love-yielding, love-climbers, and the climbing sap,", "Arms and hands of love—lips of love—phallic thumb of love—breasts of", " love—bellies press’d and glued together with love,", "Earth of chaste love—life that is only life after love,", "The body of my love—the body of the woman I love—the body of the man—the", " body of the earth,", "Soft forenoon airs that blow from the south-west,", "The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and down—that gripes the full-grown", " lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and holds", " himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied,", "The wet of woods through the early hours,", "Two sleepers at night lying close together as they sleep, one with an arm slanting down", " across and below the waist of the other,", "The smell of apples, aromas from crush’d sage-plant, mint, birch-bark,", "The boy’s longings, the glow and pressure as he confides to me what he was dreaming,", "The dead leaf whirling its spiral whirl, and falling still and content to the ground,", "The no-form’d stings that sights, people, objects, sting me with,", "The hubb’d sting of myself, stinging me as much as it ever can any one,", "The sensitive, orbic, underlapp’d brothers, that only privileged feelers may be", " intimate where they are,", "The curious roamer, the hand, roaming all over the body—the bashful withdrawing of", " flesh where the fingers soothingly pause and edge themselves,", "The limpid liquid within the young man,", "The vexed corrosion, so pensive and so painful,", "The torment—the irritable tide that will not be at rest,", "The like of the same I feel—the like of the same in others,", "The young man that flushes and flushes, and the young woman that flushes and flushes,", "The young man that wakes, deep at night, the hot hand seeking to repress what would master", " him;", "The mystic amorous night—the strange half-welcome pangs, visions, sweats,", "The pulse pounding through palms and trembling encircling fingers—the young man all", " color’d, red, ashamed, angry;", "The souse upon me of my lover the sea, as I lie willing and naked,", "The merriment of the twin-babes that crawl over the grass in the sun, the mother never", " turning her vigilant eyes from them,", "The walnut-trunk, the walnut-husks, and the ripening or ripen’d long-round walnuts;", "The continence of vegetables, birds, animals,", "The consequent meanness of me should I skulk or find myself indecent, while birds and", " animals never once skulk or find themselves indecent;", "The great chastity of paternity, to match the great chastity of maternity,", "The oath of procreation I have sworn—my Adamic and fresh daughters,", "The greed that eats me day and night with hungry gnaw, till I saturate what shall produce", " boys to fill my place when I am through,", "The wholesome relief, repose, content;", "And this bunch, pluck’d at random from myself;", "It has done its work—I tossed it carelessly to fall where it may." ], "linecount": "61" }, { "title": "Native Moments", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "NATIVE moments! when you come upon me—Ah you are here now!", "Give me now libidinous joys only!", "Give me the drench of my passions! Give me life coarse and rank!", "To-day, I go consort with nature’s darlings—to-night too;", "I am for those who believe in loose delights—I share the midnight orgies of young men;", "I dance with the dancers, and drink with the drinkers;", "The echoes ring with our indecent calls;", "I take for my love some prostitute—I pick out some low person for my dearest friend,", "He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate—he shall be one condemn’d by others for deeds", " done;", "I will play a part no longer—Why should I exile myself from my companions?", "O you shunn’d persons! I at least do not shun you,", "I come forthwith in your midst—I will be your poet,", "I will be more to you than to any of the rest." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Upon the Priory Grove, His Usual Retirement", "author": "Henry Vaughan", "lines": [ "Hail sacred shades! cool, leavy House!", "Chaste treasurer of all my vows,", "And wealth! on whose soft bosom laid", "My love's fair steps I first betrayed:", "Henceforth no melancholy flight,", "No sad wing, or hoarse bird of night,", "Disturb this air, no fatal throat", "Of raven, or owl, awake the note", "Of our laid echo, no voice dwell", "Within these leaves, but Philomel.", "The poisonous ivy here no more", "His false twists on the oak shall score,", "Only the woodbine here may twine", "As th'emblem of her love and mine;", "Th'amorous sun shall here convey", "His best beams, in thy shades to play;", "The active air, the gentlest showers", "Shall from his wings rain on thy flowers;", "And the moon from her dewy locks", "Shall deck thee with her brightest drops:", "What ever can a fancy move,", "Or feed the eye; be on this Grove;", "And when at last the winds and tears", "Of Heaven, with the consuming years,", "Shall these green curls bring to decay,", "And clothe thee in an aged gray:", "(If ought a lover can foresee;", "Or if we poets, prophets be)", "From hence transplant'd, thou shalt stand", "A fresh Grove in th'Elysian land;", "Where (most blest pair!) as here on earth", "Thou first didst eye our growth and birth;", "So there again, thou'lt see us move", "In our first innocence, and love:", "And in thy shades, as now, so then,", "We'll kiss, and smile, and walk again." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "La Passion Vaincue", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "On the Banks of the Severn a desperate Maid", "(Whom some Shepherd, neglecting his Vows, had betray'd,)", "Stood resolving to banish all Sense of the Pain,", "And pursue, thro' her Death, a Revenge on the Swain.", "Since the Gods, and my Passion, at once he defies;", "Since his Vanity lives, whilst my Character dies;", "No more (did she say) will I trifle with Fate,", "But commit to the Waves both my Love and my Hate.", "And now to comply with that furious Desire,", "Just ready to plunge, and alone to expire,", "Some Reflection on Death, and its Terrors untry'd,", "Some Scorn for the Shepherd, some Flashings of Pride", "At length pull'd her back, and she cry'd, Why this Strife,", "Since the Swains are so Many, and I've but One Life?" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXI: A Witless Galant", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "A witless gallant a young wench that woo'd", "(Yet his dull spirit her not one jot could move),", "Entreated me, as e'er I wish'd his good,", "To write him but one sonnet to his love;", "When I, as fast as e'er my pen could trot,", "Pour'd out what first from quick invention came,", "Nor never stood one word thereof to blot,", "Much like his wit that was to use the same;", "But with my verses he his mistress won,", "Which doted on the dolt beyond all measure.", "But see, for you to Heav'n for phrase I run,", "And ransack all Apollo's golden treasure;", "Yet by my froth this fool his love obtains,", "And I lose you for all my love and pains." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Ay, workman, make me a dream,", "author": "Stephen Crane", "lines": [ "Ay, workman, make me a dream,", "A dream for my love.", "Cunningly weave sunlight,", "Breezes, and flowers.", "Let it be of the cloth of meadows.", "And -- good workman --", "And let there be a man walking thereon." ], "linecount": "7" }, { "title": "To Heaven", "author": "Ben Jonson", "lines": [ "Good and great God, can I not think of thee", "But it must straight my melancholy be?", "Is it interpreted in me disease", "That, laden with my sins, I seek for ease?", "Oh be thou witness, that the reins dost know", "And hearts of all, if I be sad for show,", "And judge me after; if I dare pretend", "To ought but grace or aim at other end.", "As thou art all, so be thou all to me,", "First, midst, and last, converted one, and three;", "My faith, my hope, my love; and in this state", "My judge, my witness, and my advocate.", "Where have I been this while exil'd from thee?", "And whither rap'd, now thou but stoop'st to me?", "Dwell, dwell here still. O, being everywhere,", "How can I doubt to find thee ever here?", "I know my state, both full of shame and scorn,", "Conceiv'd in sin, and unto labour borne,", "Standing with fear, and must with horror fall,", "And destin'd unto judgment, after all.", "I feel my griefs too, and there scarce is ground", "Upon my flesh t' inflict another wound.", "Yet dare I not complain, or wish for death", "With holy Paul, lest it be thought the breath", "Of discontent; or that these prayers be", "For weariness of life, not love of thee." ], "linecount": "26" }, { "title": "Holy Sonnet XVII: Since She Whom I Loved", "author": "John Donne", "lines": [ "Since she whom I loved hath paid her last debt", "To Nature, and to hers, and my good is dead,", "And her soul early into heaven ravished,", "Wholly on heavenly things my mind is set.", "here the admiring her my mind did whet", "To seek thee, God; so streams do show the head;", "But though I have found thee, and thou my thirst hast fed,", "a holy thristy dropsy melts me yet.", "But why should I beg more love, whenas thou", "Dost woo my soul, for hers offering all thine:", "And dost not only fear lest I allow", "My love to saints and angels, things divine,", "but in they tender jealousy dost doubt", "lest the world, flesh, yea, devil put thee out." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 38 - First time he kissed me, he but only kissed", "author": "Elizabeth Barrett Browning", "lines": [ "First time he kissed me, he but only kissed", "The fingers of this hand wherewith I write;", "And ever since, it grew more clean and white,", "Slow to world-greetings, quick with its 'Oh, list,'", "When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst", "I could not wear here, plainer to my sight,", "Than that first kiss. The second passed in height", "The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed,", "Half falling on the hair. O beyond meed!", "That was the chrism of love, which love's own crown,", "With sanctifying sweetness, did precede.", "The third upon my lips was folded down", "In perfect, purple state; since when, indeed,", "I have been proud and said, 'My love, my own.'" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet XLII: Some Men There Be", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "Some men there be which like my method well", "And much commend the strangeness of my vein;", "Some say I have a passing pleasing strain;", "Some say that im my humor I excel;", "Some, who not kindly relish my conceit,", "They say, as poets do, I use to feign,", "And in bare words paint out my passion's pain.", "Thus sundry men their sundry words repeat;", "I pass not, I, how men affected be,", "Nor who commends or discommends my verse;", "It pleaseth me, if I my woes rehearse,", "And in my lines if she my love may see.", "Only my comfort still consists in this,", "Writing her praise I cannot write amiss." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Fragment: I Faint, I Perish with My Love!", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "I faint, I perish with my love! I grow", "Frail as a cloud whose pale", "Under the evening's ever-changing glow:", "I die like mist upon the gale,", "And like a wave under the calm I fail." ], "linecount": "5" }, { "title": "Sonnet 54", "author": "Edmund Spenser", "lines": [ "Of this worlds theatre in which we stay,", "My love like the spectator ydly sits", "Beholding me that all the pageants play,", "Disguysing diversly my troubled wits.", "Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits,", "And mask in myrth lyke to a comedy:", "Soone after when my joy to sorrow flits,", "I waile and make my woes a tragedy.", "Yet she, beholding me with constant eye,", "Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart:", "But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry", "She laughs and hardens evermore her heart.", "What then can move her? if nor merth nor mone,", "She is no woman, but a senceless stone." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet I: Like an Advent'rous Seafarer", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "Like an advent'rous seafarer am I,", "Who hath some long and dang'rous voyage been,", "And, call'd to tell of his discovery,", "How far he sail'd, what countries he had seen;", "Proceeding from the port whence he put forth,", "Shows by his compass how his course he steer'd,", "When East, when West, when South, and when by North,", "As how the Pole to every place was rear'd,", "What capes he doubled, of what Continent,", "The gulfs and straits that strangely he had past,", "Where most becalm'd, where with foul weather spent,", "And on what rocks in peril to be cast:", "Thus in my love, Time calls me to relate", "My tedious travels and oft-varying fate." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet LVI: When Like an Eaglet", "author": "Michael Drayton", "lines": [ "When like an eaglet I first found my Love,", "For that the virtue I thereof would know,", "Upon the nest I set it forth to prove", "If it were of that kingly kind or no;", "But it no sooner say my Sun appear,", "But on her rays with open eyes it stood,", "To show that I had hatch'd it for the air", "And rightly came from that brave mounting brood;", "And, when the plumes were summ'd with sweet desire,", "To prove the pinions it ascends the skies;", "Do what I could, it needsly would aspire", "To my Soul's Sun, those two celestial eyes.", "Thus from my breast, where it was bred alone,", "It after thee is, like an eaglet, flown." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Spring", "author": "William Morris", "lines": [ "Spring am I, too soft of heart", "Much to speak ere I depart:", "Ask the Summer-tide to prove", "The abundance of my love." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Sonnet XXX: O'er the Tall Cliff", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "O'er the tall cliff that bounds the billowy main", "Shad'wing the surge that sweeps the lonely strand,", "While the thin vapours break along the sand,", "Day's harbinger unfolds the liquid plain.", "The rude Sea murmurs, mournful as the strain", "That love-lorn minstrels strike with trembling hand,", "While from their green beds rise the Syren band", "With tongues aerial to repeat my pain!", "The vessel rocks beside the pebbly shore,", "The foamy curls its gaudy trappings lave;", "Oh! Bark propitious! bear me gently o'er,", "Breathe soft, ye winds; rise slow, O! swelling wave!", "Lesbos; these eyes shall meet thy sands no more:", "I fly, to seek my Lover, or my Grave!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Amoretti LXXIV: Most Happy Letters", "author": "Edmund Spenser", "lines": [ "Most happy letters, fram'd by skilful trade,", "With which that happy name was first design'd:", "The which three times thrice happy hath me made,", "With gifts of body, fortune, and of mind.", "The first my being to me gave by kind,", "From mother's womb deriv'd by due descent,", "The second is my sovereign Queen most kind,", "That honour and large richesse to me lent.", "The third my love, my life's last ornament,", "By whom my spirit out of dust was raised:", "To speak her praise and glory excellent,", "Of all alive most worthy to be praised.", "Ye three Elizabeths for ever live,", "That three such graces did unto me give." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "To My Dear and Loving Husband", "author": "Anne Bradstreet", "lines": [ "If ever two were one, then surely we.", "If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.", "If ever wife was happy in a man,", "Compare with me, ye women, if you can.", "I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold", "Or all the riches that the East doth hold.", "My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,", "Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.", "Thy love is such I can no way repay.", "The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.", "Then while we live, in love let's so persever", "That when we live no more, we may live ever." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Primeval my Love for the Woman I Love", "author": "Walt Whitman", "lines": [ "PRIMEVAL my love for the woman I love,", "O bride! O wife! more resistless, more enduring than I can tell, the thought of you!", "Then separate, as disembodied, the purest born,", "The ethereal, the last athletic reality, my consolation,", "I ascend—I float in the regions of your love, O man,", "O sharer of my roving life." ], "linecount": "6" } ]