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Childe Harold's Pilgrimage - Canto the Second

  1. 1Come, blue-eyed Maid of Heaven!--but Thou, alas!
  2. 2Didst never yet one mortal song inspire--
  3. 3Goddess of Wisdom! here thy temple was,
  4. 4And is, despite of War and wasting fire,
  5. 5And years, that bade thy worship to expire:
  6. 6But worse than steel, and flame, and ages slow,
  7. 7Is the dread sceptre and dominion dire
  8. 8Of men who never felt the sacred glow
  9. 9That thoughts of thee and thine on polished breasts bestow.
  1. 10Ancient of days! august Athena! where,
  2. 11Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul?
  3. 12Gone--glimmering through the dream of things that were:
  4. 13First in the race that led to Glory's goal,
  5. 14They won, and passed away--is this the whole?
  6. 15A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour!
  7. 16The Warrior's weapon and the Sophist's stole
  8. 17Are sought in vain, and o'er each mouldering tower,
  9. 18Dim with the mist of years, gray flits the shade of power.
  1. 19Son of the Morning, rise! approach you here!
  2. 20Come--but molest not yon defenceless Urn:
  3. 21Look on this spot--a Nation's sepulchre!
  4. 22Abode of Gods, whose shrines no longer burn.
  5. 23Even Gods must yield--Religions take their turn:
  6. 24'Twas Jove's--'tis Mahomet's--and other Creeds
  7. 25Will rise with other years, till Man shall learn
  8. 26Vainly his incense soars, his victim bleeds;
  9. 27Poor child of Doubt and Death, whose hope is built on reeds.
  1. 28Bound to the Earth, he lifts his eye to Heaven--
  2. 29Is't not enough, Unhappy Thing! to know
  3. 30Thou art? Is this a boon so kindly given,
  4. 31That being, thou would'st be again, and go,
  5. 32Thou know'st not, reck'st not to what region, so
  6. 33On Earth no more, but mingled with the skies?
  7. 34Still wilt thou dream on future Joy and Woe?
  8. 35Regard and weigh yon dust before it flies:
  9. 36That little urn saith more than thousand Homilies.
  1. 37Or burst the vanished Hero's lofty mound;
  2. 38Far on the solitary shore he sleeps:
  3. 39He fell, and falling nations mourned around;
  4. 40But now not one of saddening thousands weeps,
  5. 41Nor warlike worshipper his vigil keeps
  6. 42Where demi-gods appeared, as records tell.
  7. 43Remove yon skull from out the scattered heaps:
  8. 44Is that a Temple where a God may dwell?
  9. 45Why ev'n the Worm at last disdains her shattered cell!
  1. 46Look on its broken arch, its ruined wall,
  2. 47Its chambers desolate, and portals foul:
  3. 48Yes, this was once Ambition's airy hall,
  4. 49The Dome of Thought, the Palace of the Soul:
  5. 50Behold through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole,
  6. 51The gay recess of Wisdom and of Wit
  7. 52And Passion's host, that never brooked control:
  8. 53Can all Saint, Sage, or Sophist ever writ,
  9. 54People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?
  1. 55Well didst thou speak, Athena's wisest son!
  2. 56"All that we know is, nothing can be known."
  3. 57Why should we shrink from what we cannot shun?
  4. 58Each hath its pang, but feeble sufferers groan
  5. 59With brain-born dreams of Evil all their own.
  6. 60Pursue what Chance or Fate proclaimeth best;
  7. 61Peace waits us on the shores of Acheron:
  8. 62There no forced banquet claims the sated guest,
  9. 63But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome Rest.
  1. 64Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there be
  2. 65A land of Souls beyond that sable shore,
  3. 66To shame the Doctrine of the Sadducee
  4. 67And Sophists, madly vain of dubious lore;
  5. 68How sweet it were in concert to adore
  6. 69With those who made our mortal labours light!
  7. 70To hear each voice we feared to hear no more!
  8. 71Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight,
  9. 72The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the Right!
  1. 73There, Thou!--whose Love and Life together fled,
  2. 74Have left me here to love and live in vain--
  3. 75Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead
  4. 76When busy Memory flashes on my brain?
  5. 77Well--I will dream that we may meet again,
  6. 78And woo the vision to my vacant breast:
  7. 79If aught of young Remembrance then remain,
  8. 80Be as it may Futurity's behest,
  9. 81For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest!
  1. 82Here let me sit upon this massy stone,
  2. 83The marble column's yet unshaken base;
  3. 84Here, son of Saturn! was thy favourite throne:
  4. 85Mightiest of many such! Hence let me trace
  5. 86The latent grandeur of thy dwelling-place.
  6. 87It may not be: nor ev'n can Fancy's eye
  7. 88Restore what Time hath laboured to deface.
  8. 89Yet these proud Pillars claim no passing sigh;
  9. 90Unmoved the Moslem sits, the light Greek carols by.
  1. 91But who, of all the plunderers of yon
  2. 92Fane On high--where Pallas linger'd, loth to flee
  3. 93The latest relic of her ancient reign--
  4. 94The last, the worst, dull spoiler, who was he?
  5. 95Blush, Caledonia! such thy son could be!
  6. 96England! I joy no child he was of thine:
  7. 97Thy free-born men should spare what once was free;
  8. 98Yet they could violate each saddening shrine,
  9. 99And hear these altars o'er the long-reluctant brine.
  1. 100But most the modern Pict's ignoble boast,
  2. 101To rive what Goth, and Turk, and Time hath spared:
  3. 102Cold as the crags upon his native coast,
  4. 103His mind as barren and his heart as hard,
  5. 104Is he whose head conceived, whose hand prepared.
  6. 105Aught to displace Athenæ's poor remains:
  7. 106Her Sons too weak the sacred shrine to guard,
  8. 107Yet felt some portion of their Mother's pains,
  9. 108And never knew, till then, the weight of Despot's chains.
  1. 109What! shall it e'er be said by British tongue,
  2. 110Albion was happy in Athena's tears?
  3. 111Though in thy name the slaves her bosom wrung,
  4. 112Tell not the deed to blushing Europe's ears;
  5. 113The Ocean Queen, the free Britannia, bears
  6. 114The last poor plunder from a bleeding land:
  7. 115Yes, she, whose generous aid her name endears,
  8. 116Tore down those remnants with a Harpy's hand,
  9. 117Which envious Eld forbore, and tyrants left to stand.
  1. 118Where was thine Ægis, Pallas! that appalled
  2. 119Stern Alaric and Havoc on their way?
  3. 120Where Peleus' son? whom Hell in vain enthralled.
  4. 121His shade from Hades upon that dread day
  5. 122Bursting to light in terrible array!
  6. 123What! could not Pluto spare the Chief once more,
  7. 124To scare a second robber from his prey?
  8. 125Idly he wandered on the Stygian shore,
  9. 126Nor now preserved the walls he loved to shield before.
  1. 127Cold is the heart, fair Greece! that looks on Thee,
  2. 128Nor feels as Lovers o'er the dust they loved;
  3. 129Dull is the eye that will not weep to see
  4. 130Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed
  5. 131By British hands, which it had best behoved
  6. 132To guard those relics ne'er to be restored:--
  7. 133Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,
  8. 134And once again thy hapless bosom gored,
  9. 135And snatched thy shrinking Gods to Northern climes abhorred!
  1. 136But where is Harold? shall I then forget
  2. 137To urge the gloomy Wanderer o'er the wave?
  3. 138Little recked he of all that Men regret;
  4. 139No loved-one now in feigned lament could rave;
  5. 140No friend the parting hand extended gave,
  6. 141Ere the cold Stranger passed to other climes:
  7. 142Hard is his heart whom charms may not enslave;
  8. 143But Harold felt not as in other times,
  9. 144And left without a sigh the land of War and Crimes.
  1. 145He that has sailed upon the dark blue sea
  2. 146Has viewed at times, I ween, a full fair sight,
  3. 147When the fresh breeze is fair as breeze may be,
  4. 148The white sail set, the gallant Frigate tight--
  5. 149Masts, spires, and strand retiring to the right,
  6. 150The glorious Main expanding o'er the bow,
  7. 151The Convoy spread like wild swans in their flight,
  8. 152The dullest sailer wearing bravely now--
  9. 153So gaily curl the waves before each dashing prow.
  1. 154And oh, the little warlike world within!
  2. 155The well-reeved guns, the netted canopy,
  3. 156The hoarse command, the busy humming din,
  4. 157When, at a word, the tops are manned on high:
  5. 158Hark, to the Boatswain's call, the cheering cry!
  6. 159While through the seaman's hand the tackle glides;
  7. 160Or schoolboy Midshipman that, standing by,
  8. 161Strains his shrill pipe as good or ill betides,
  9. 162And well the docile crew that skilful Urchin guides.
  1. 163White is the glassy deck, without a stain,
  2. 164Where on the watch the staid Lieutenant walks:
  3. 165Look on that part which sacred doth remain
  4. 166For the lone Chieftain, who majestic stalks,
  5. 167Silent and feared by all--not oft he talks
  6. 168With aught beneath him, if he would preserve
  7. 169That strict restraint, which broken, ever balks
  8. 170Conquest and Fame: but Britons rarely swerve
  9. 171From law, however stern, which tends their strength to nerve.
  1. 172Blow! swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale!
  2. 173Till the broad Sun withdraws his lessening ray:
  3. 174Then must the Pennant-bearer slacken sail,
  4. 175That lagging barks may make their lazy way.
  5. 176Ah! grievance sore, and listless dull delay,
  6. 177To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breeze!
  7. 178What leagues are lost, before the dawn of day,
  8. 179Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas,
  9. 180The flapping sail hauled down to halt for logs like these!
  1. 181The Moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve!
  2. 182Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand;
  3. 183Now lads on shore may sigh, and maids believe:
  4. 184Such be our fate when we return to land!
  5. 185Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand
  6. 186Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love;
  7. 187A circle there of merry listeners stand
  8. 188Or to some well-known measure featly move,
  9. 189Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove.
  1. 190Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shore;
  2. 191Europe and Afric on each other gaze!
  3. 192Lands of the dark-eyed Maid and dusky Moor
  4. 193Alike beheld beneath pale Hecate's blaze:
  5. 194How softly on the Spanish shore she plays!
  6. 195Disclosing rock, and slope, and forest brown,
  7. 196Distinct, though darkening with her waning phase;
  8. 197But Mauritania's giant-shadows frown,
  9. 198From mountain-cliff to coast descending sombre down.
  1. 199'Tis night, when Meditation bids us feel
  2. 200We once have loved, though Love is at an end:
  3. 201The Heart, lone mourner of its baffled zeal,
  4. 202Though friendless now, will dream it had a friend.
  5. 203Who with the weight of years would wish to bend,
  6. 204When Youth itself survives young Love and Joy?
  7. 205Alas! when mingling souls forget to blend,
  8. 206Death hath but little left him to destroy!
  9. 207Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?
  1. 208Thus bending o'er the vessel's laving side,
  2. 209To gaze on Dian's wave-reflected sphere,
  3. 210The Soul forgets her schemes of Hope and Pride,
  4. 211And flies unconscious o'er each backward year;
  5. 212None are so desolate but something dear,
  6. 213Dearer than self, possesses or possessed
  7. 214A thought, and claims the homage of a tear;
  8. 215A flashing pang! of which the weary breast
  9. 216Would still, albeit in vain, the heavy heart divest.
  1. 217To sit on rocks--to muse o'er flood and fell--
  2. 218To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
  3. 219Where things that own not Man's dominion dwell,
  4. 220And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
  5. 221To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
  6. 222With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
  7. 223Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;
  8. 224This is not Solitude--'tis but to hold
  9. 225Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.
  1. 226But midst the crowd, the hum, the shock of men,
  2. 227To hear, to see, to feel, and to possess,
  3. 228And roam along, the World's tired denizen,
  4. 229With none who bless us, none whom we can bless;
  5. 230Minions of Splendour shrinking from distress!
  6. 231None that, with kindred consciousness endued,
  7. 232If we were not, would seem to smile the less,
  8. 233Of all that flattered--followed--sought, and sued:
  9. 234This is to be alone--This, This is Solitude!
  1. 235More blest the life of godly Eremite,
  2. 236Such as on lonely Athos may be seen,
  3. 237Watching at eve upon the Giant Height,
  4. 238Which looks o'er waves so blue, skies so serene,
  5. 239That he who there at such an hour hath been
  6. 240Will wistful linger on that hallowed spot;
  7. 241Then slowly tear him from the 'witching scene,
  8. 242Sigh forth one wish that such had been his lot,
  9. 243Then turn to hate a world he had almost forgot.
  1. 244Pass we the long unvarying course, the track
  2. 245Oft trod, that never leaves a trace behind;
  3. 246Pass we the calm--the gale--the change--the tack,
  4. 247And each well known caprice of wave and wind;
  5. 248Pass we the joys and sorrows sailors find,
  6. 249Cooped in their wingéd sea-girt citadel;
  7. 250The foul--the fair--the contrary--the kind--
  8. 251As breezes rise and fall and billows swell,
  9. 252Till on some jocund morn--lo, Land! and All is well!
  1. 253But not in silence pass Calypso's isles,
  2. 254The sister tenants of the middle deep;
  3. 255There for the weary still a Haven smiles,
  4. 256Though the fair Goddess long hath ceased to weep,
  5. 257And o'er her cliffs a fruitless watch to keep
  6. 258For him who dared prefer a mortal bride:
  7. 259Here, too, his boy essayed the dreadful leap
  8. 260Stern Mentor urged from high to yonder tide;
  9. 261While thus of both bereft, the Nymph-Queen doubly sighed.
  1. 262Her reign is past, her gentle glories gone:
  2. 263But trust not this; too easy Youth, beware!
  3. 264A mortal Sovereign holds her dangerous throne,
  4. 265And thou may'st find a new Calypso there.
  5. 266Sweet Florence could another ever share
  6. 267This wayward, loveless heart, it would be thine:
  7. 268But checked by every tie, I may not dare
  8. 269To cast a worthless offering at thy shrine,
  9. 270Nor ask so dear a breast to feel one pang for mine.
  1. 271Thus Harold deemed, as on that Lady's eye
  2. 272He looked, and met its beam without a thought,
  3. 273Save Admiration glancing harmless by:
  4. 274Love kept aloof, albeit not far remote,
  5. 275Who knew his Votary often lost and caught,
  6. 276But knew him as his Worshipper no more,
  7. 277And ne'er again the Boy his bosom sought:
  8. 278Since now he vainly urged him to adore,
  9. 279Well deemed the little God his ancient sway was o'er.
  1. 280Fair Florence found, in sooth with some amaze,
  2. 281One who, 'twas said, still sighed to all he saw,
  3. 282Withstand, unmoved, the lustre of her gaze,
  4. 283Which others hailed with real or mimic awe,
  5. 284Their hope, their doom, their punishment, their law;
  6. 285All that gay Beauty from her bondsmen claims:
  7. 286And much she marvelled that a youth so raw
  8. 287Nor felt, nor feigned at least, the oft-told flames,
  9. 288Which though sometimes they frown, yet rarely anger dames.
  1. 289Little knew she that seeming marble heart,
  2. 290Now masked in silence or withheld by Pride,
  3. 291Was not unskilful in the spoiler's art,
  4. 292And spread its snares licentious far and wide;
  5. 293Nor from the base pursuit had turned aside,
  6. 294As long as aught was worthy to pursue:
  7. 295But Harold on such arts no more relied;
  8. 296And had he doted on those eyes so blue,
  9. 297Yet never would he join the lover's whining crew.
  1. 298Not much he kens, I ween, of Woman's breast,
  2. 299Who thinks that wanton thing is won by sighs;
  3. 300What careth she for hearts when once possessed?
  4. 301Do proper homage to thine Idol's eyes;
  5. 302But not too humbly, or she will despise
  6. 303Thee and thy suit, though told in moving tropes:
  7. 304Disguise ev'n tenderness, if thou art wise;
  8. 305Brisk Confidence still best with woman copes:
  9. 306Pique her and soothe in turn--soon Passion crowns thy hopes.
  1. 307'Tis an old lesson--Time approves it true,
  2. 308And those who know it best, deplore it most;
  3. 309When all is won that all desire to woo,
  4. 310The paltry prize is hardly worth the cost:
  5. 311Youth wasted--Minds degraded--Honour lost--
  6. 312These are thy fruits, successful Passion! these!
  7. 313If, kindly cruel, early Hope is crost,
  8. 314Still to the last it rankles, a disease,
  9. 315Not to be cured when Love itself forgets to please.
  1. 316Away! nor let me loiter in my song,
  2. 317For we have many a mountain-path to tread,
  3. 318And many a varied shore to sail along,
  4. 319By pensive Sadness, not by Fiction, led--
  5. 320Climes, fair withal as ever mortal head
  6. 321Imagined in its little schemes of thought;
  7. 322Or e'er in new Utopias were ared,
  8. 323To teach Man what he might be, or he ought--
  9. 324If that corrupted thing could ever such be taught.
  1. 325Dear Nature is the kindest mother still!
  2. 326Though always changing, in her aspect mild;
  3. 327From her bare bosom let me take my fill,
  4. 328Her never-weaned, though not her favoured child.
  5. 329Oh! she is fairest in her features wild,
  6. 330Where nothing polished dares pollute her path:
  7. 331To me by day or night she ever smiled,
  8. 332Though I have marked her when none other hath,
  9. 333And sought her more and more, and loved her best in wrath.
  1. 334Land of Albania! where Iskander rose,
  2. 335Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise,
  3. 336And he his namesake, whose oft-baffled foes
  4. 337Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous emprize:
  5. 338Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes
  6. 339On thee, thou rugged Nurse of savage men!
  7. 340The Cross descends, thy Minarets arise,
  8. 341And the pale Crescent sparkles in the glen,
  9. 342Through many a cypress-grove within each city's ken.
  1. 343Childe Harold sailed, and passed the barren spot,
  2. 344Where sad Penelope o'erlooked the wave;
  3. 345And onward viewed the mount, not yet forgot,
  4. 346The Lover's refuge, and the Lesbian's grave.
  5. 347Dark Sappho! could not Verse immortal save
  6. 348That breast imbued with such immortal fire?
  7. 349Could she not live who life eternal gave?
  8. 350If life eternal may await the lyre,
  9. 351That only Heaven to which Earth's children may aspire.
  1. 352'Twas on a Grecian autumn's gentle eve
  2. 353Childe Harold hailed Leucadia's cape afar;
  3. 354A spot he longed to see, nor cared to leave:
  4. 355Oft did he mark the scenes of vanished war,
  5. 356Actium--Lepanto--fatal Trafalgar;
  6. 357Mark them unmoved, for he would not delight
  7. 358(Born beneath some remote inglorious star)
  8. 359In themes of bloody fray, or gallant fight,
  9. 360But loathed the bravo's trade, and laughed at martial wight.
  1. 361But when he saw the Evening star above
  2. 362Leucadia's far-projecting rock of woe,
  3. 363And hailed the last resort of fruitless love,
  4. 364He felt, or deemed he felt, no common glow:
  5. 365And as the stately vessel glided slow
  6. 366\Beneath the shadow of that ancient mount,
  7. 367He watched the billows' melancholy flow,
  8. 368And, sunk albeit in thought as he was wont,
  9. 369More placid seemed his eye, and smooth his pallid front.
  1. 370Morn dawns; and with it stern Albania's hills,
  2. 371Dark Suli's rocks, and Pindus' inland peak,
  3. 372Robed half in mist, bedewed with snowy rills,
  4. 373Arrayed in many a dun and purple streak,
  5. 374Arise; and, as the clouds along them break,
  6. 375Disclose the dwelling of the mountaineer:
  7. 376Here roams the wolf--the eagle whets his beak--
  8. 377Birds--beasts of prey--and wilder men appear,
  9. 378And gathering storms around convulse the closing year.
  1. 379Now Harold felt himself at length alone,
  2. 380And bade to Christian tongues a long adieu;
  3. 381Now he adventured on a shore unknown,
  4. 382Which all admire, but many dread to view:
  5. 383His breast was armed 'gainst fate, his wants were few
  6. 384Peril he sought not, but ne'er shrank to meet:
  7. 385The scene was savage, but the scene was new;
  8. 386This made the ceaseless toil of travel sweet,
  9. 387Beat back keen Winter's blast, and welcomed Summer's heat.
  1. 388Here the red Cross, for still the Cross is here,
  2. 389Though sadly scoffed at by the circumcised,
  3. 390Forgets that Pride to pampered priesthood dear;
  4. 391Churchman and Votary alike despised.
  5. 392Foul Superstition! howsoe'er disguised,
  6. 393Idol--Saint--Virgin--Prophet--Crescent--Cross--
  7. 394For whatsoever symbol thou art prized,
  8. 395Thou sacerdotal gain, but general loss!
  9. 396Who from true Worship's gold can separate thy dross?
  1. 397Ambracia's gulf behold, where once was lost
  2. 398A world for Woman, lovely, harmless thing!
  3. 399In yonder rippling bay, their naval host
  4. 400Did many a Roman chief and Asian King
  5. 401To doubtful conflict, certain slaughter bring:
  6. 402Look where the second Cæsar's trophies rose!
  7. 403Now, like the hands that reared them, withering:
  8. 404Imperial Anarchs, doubling human woes!
  9. 405GOD! was thy globe ordained for such to win and lose?
  1. 406From the dark barriers of that rugged clime,
  2. 407Ev'n to the centre of Illyria's vales,
  3. 408Childe Harold passed o'er many a mount sublime,
  4. 409Through lands scarce noticed in historic tales:
  5. 410Yet in famed Attica such lovely dales
  6. 411Are rarely seen; nor can fair Tempe boast
  7. 412A charm they know not; loved Parnassus fails,
  8. 413Though classic ground and consecrated most,
  9. 414To match some spots that lurk within this lowering coast.
  1. 415He passed bleak Pindus, Acherusia's lake,
  2. 416And left the primal city of the land,
  3. 417And onwards did his further journey take
  4. 418To greet Albania's Chief, whose dread command
  5. 419Is lawless law; for with a bloody hand
  6. 420He sways a nation,--turbulent and bold:
  7. 421Yet here and there some daring mountain-band
  8. 422Disdain his power, and from their rocky hold
  9. 423Hurl their defiance far, nor yield, unless to gold.
  1. 424Monastic Zitza! from thy shady brow,
  2. 425Thou small, but favoured spot of holy ground!
  3. 426Where'er we gaze--around--above--below,--
  4. 427What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found!
  5. 428Rock, river, forest, mountain, all abound,
  6. 429And bluest skies that harmonise the whole:
  7. 430Beneath, the distant Torrent's rushing sound
  8. 431Tells where the volumed Cataract doth roll
  9. 432Between those hanging rocks, that shock yet please the soul.
  1. 433Amidst the grove that crowns yon tufted hill,
  2. 434Which, were it not for many a mountain nigh
  3. 435Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still,
  4. 436Might well itself be deemed of dignity,
  5. 437The Convent's white walls glisten fair on high:
  6. 438Here dwells the caloyer, nor rude is he,
  7. 439Nor niggard of his cheer; the passer by
  8. 440Is welcome still; nor heedless will he flee
  9. 441From hence, if he delight kind Nature's sheen to see.
  1. 442Here in the sultriest season let him rest,
  2. 443Fresh is the green beneath those aged trees;
  3. 444Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breast,
  4. 445From Heaven itself he may inhale the breeze:
  5. 446The plain is far beneath--oh! let him seize
  6. 447Pure pleasure while he can; the scorching ray
  7. 448Here pierceth not, impregnate with disease:
  8. 449Then let his length the loitering pilgrim lay,
  9. 450And gaze, untired, the Morn--the Noon--the Eve away.
  1. 451Dusky and huge, enlarging on the sight,
  2. 452Nature's volcanic Amphitheatre,
  3. 453Chimæra's Alps extend from left to right:
  4. 454Beneath, a living valley seems to stir;
  5. 455Flocks play, trees wave, streams flow, the mountain-fir
  6. 456Nodding above; behold black Acheron!
  7. 457Once consecrated to the sepulchre.
  8. 458Pluto! if this be Hell I look upon,
  9. 459Close shamed Elysium's gates, my shade shall seek for none.
  1. 460Ne city's towers pollute the lovely view;
  2. 461Unseen is Yanina, though not remote,
  3. 462Veiled by the screen of hills: here men are few,
  4. 463Scanty the hamlet, rare the lonely cot:
  5. 464But, peering down each precipice, the goat
  6. 465Browseth; and, pensive o'er his scattered flock,
  7. 466The little shepherd in his white capote
  8. 467Doth lean his boyish form along the rock,
  9. 468Or in his cave awaits the Tempest's short-lived shock.
  1. 469Oh! where, Dodona! is thine agéd Grove,
  2. 470Prophetic Fount, and Oracle divine?
  3. 471What valley echoed the response of Jove?
  4. 472What trace remaineth of the Thunderer's shrine?
  5. 473All, all forgotten--and shall Man repine
  6. 474That his frail bonds to fleeting life are broke?
  7. 475Cease, Fool! the fate of Gods may well be thine:
  8. 476Wouldst thou survive the marble or the oak?
  9. 477When nations, tongues, and worlds must sink beneath the stroke!
  1. 478Epirus' bounds recede, and mountains fail;
  2. 479Tired of up-gazing still, the wearied eye
  3. 480Reposes gladly on as smooth a vale
  4. 481As ever Spring yclad in grassy dye:
  5. 482Ev'n on a plain no humble beauties lie,
  6. 483Where some bold river breaks the long expanse,
  7. 484And woods along the banks are waving high,
  8. 485Whose shadows in the glassy waters dance,
  9. 486Or with the moonbeam sleep in Midnight's solemn trance.
  1. 487The Sun had sunk behind vast Tomerit,
  2. 488And Laos wide and fierce came roaring by;
  3. 489The shades of wonted night were gathering yet,
  4. 490When, down the steep banks winding warily,
  5. 491Childe Harold saw, like meteors in the sky,
  6. 492The glittering minarets of Tepalen,
  7. 493Whose walls o'erlook the stream; and drawing nigh,
  8. 494He heard the busy hum of warrior-men
  9. 495Swelling the breeze that sighed along the lengthening glen.
  1. 496He passed the sacred Haram's silent tower,
  2. 497And underneath the wide o'erarching gate
  3. 498Surveyed the dwelling of this Chief of power,
  4. 499Where all around proclaimed his high estate.
  5. 500Amidst no common pomp the Despot sate,
  6. 501While busy preparation shook the court,
  7. 502Slaves, eunuchs, soldiers, guests, and santons wait;
  8. 503Within, a palace, and without, a fort:
  9. 504Here men of every clime appear to make resort.
  1. 505Richly caparisoned, a ready row
  2. 506Of arméd horse, and many a warlike store,
  3. 507Circled the wide-extending court below;
  4. 508Above, strange groups adorned the corridore;
  5. 509And oft-times through the area's echoing door
  6. 510Some high-capped Tartar spurred his steed away:
  7. 511The Turk--the Greek--the Albanian--and the Moor,
  8. 512Here mingled in their many-hued array,
  9. 513While the deep war-drum's sound announced the close of day.
  1. 514The wild Albanian kirtled to his knee,
  2. 515With shawl-girt head and ornamented gun,
  3. 516And gold-embroidered garments, fair to see;
  4. 517The crimson-scarféd men of Macedon;
  5. 518The Delhi with his cap of terror on,
  6. 519And crooked glaive--the lively, supple Greek
  7. 520And swarthy Nubia's mutilated son;
  8. 521The bearded Turk that rarely deigns to speak,
  9. 522Master of all around, too potent to be meek,
  1. 523Are mixed conspicuous: some recline in groups,
  2. 524Scanning the motley scene that varies round;
  3. 525There some grave Moslem to devotion stoops,
  4. 526And some that smoke, and some that play, are found;
  5. 527Here the Albanian proudly treads the ground;
  6. 528Half-whispering there the Greek is heard to prate;
  7. 529Hark! from the Mosque the nightly solemn sound,
  8. 530The Muezzin's call doth shake the minaret,
  9. 531"There is no god but God!--to prayer--lo! God is great!"
  1. 532Just at this season Ramazani's fast
  2. 533Through the long day its penance did maintain:
  3. 534But when the lingering twilight hour was past,
  4. 535Revel and feast assumed the rule again:
  5. 536Now all was bustle, and the menial train
  6. 537Prepared and spread the plenteous board within;
  7. 538The vacant Gallery now seemed made in vain,
  8. 539But from the chambers came the mingling din,
  9. 540As page and slave anon were passing out and in.
  1. 541Here woman's voice is never heard: apart,
  2. 542And scarce permitted, guarded, veiled, to move,
  3. 543She yields to one her person and her heart,
  4. 544Tamed to her cage, nor feels a wish to rove:
  5. 545For, not unhappy in her Master's love,
  6. 546And joyful in a mother's gentlest cares,
  7. 547Blest cares! all other feelings far above!
  8. 548Herself more sweetly rears the babe she bears
  9. 549Who never quits the breast--no meaner passion shares.
  1. 550In marble-paved pavilion, where a spring
  2. 551Of living water from the centre rose,
  3. 552Whose bubbling did a genial freshness fling,
  4. 553And soft voluptuous couches breathed repose,
  5. 554ALI reclined, a man of war and woes:
  6. 555Yet in his lineaments ye cannot trace,
  7. 556While Gentleness her milder radiance throws
  8. 557Along that agéd venerable face,
  9. 558The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.
  1. 559It is not that yon hoary lengthening beard
  2. 560Ill suits the passions which belong to Youth;
  3. 561Love conquers Age--so Hafiz hath averr'd,
  4. 562So sings the Teian, and he sings in sooth --
  5. 563But crimes that scorn the tender voice of ruth,
  6. 564Beseeming all men ill, but most the man
  7. 565In years, have marked him with a tiger's tooth;
  8. 566Blood follows blood, and, through their mortal span,
  9. 567In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood began.
  1. 568'Mid many things most new to ear and eye
  2. 569The Pilgrim rested here his weary feet,
  3. 570And gazed around on Moslem luxury,
  4. 571Till quickly, wearied with that spacious seat
  5. 572Of Wealth and Wantonness, the choice retreat
  6. 573Of sated Grandeur from the city's noise:
  7. 574And were it humbler it in sooth were sweet;
  8. 575But Peace abhorreth artificial joys,
  9. 576And Pleasure, leagued with Pomp, the zest of both destroys.
  1. 577Fierce are Albania's children, yet they lack
  2. 578Not virtues, were those virtues more mature.
  3. 579Where is the foe that ever saw their back?
  4. 580Who can so well the toil of War endure?
  5. 581Their native fastnesses not more secure
  6. 582Than they in doubtful time of troublous need:
  7. 583Their wrath how deadly! but their friendship sure,
  8. 584When Gratitude or Valour bids them bleed,
  9. 585Unshaken rushing on where'er their Chief may lead.
  1. 586Childe Harold saw them in their Chieftain's tower
  2. 587Thronging to War in splendour and success;
  3. 588And after viewed them, when, within their power,
  4. 589Himself awhile the victim of distress;
  5. 590That saddening hour when bad men hotlier press:
  6. 591But these did shelter him beneath their roof,
  7. 592When less barbarians would have cheered him less,
  8. 593And fellow-countrymen have stood aloof--
  9. 594In aught that tries the heart, how few withstand the proof!
  1. 595It chanced that adverse winds once drove his bark
  2. 596Full on the coast of Suli's shaggy shore,
  3. 597When all around was desolate and dark;
  4. 598To land was perilous, to sojourn more;
  5. 599Yet for awhile the mariners forbore,
  6. 600Dubious to trust where Treachery might lurk:
  7. 601At length they ventured forth, though doubting sore
  8. 602That those who loathe alike the Frank and Turk
  9. 603Might once again renew their ancient butcher-work.
  1. 604Vain fear! the Suliotes stretched the welcome hand,
  2. 605Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swamp,
  3. 606Kinder than polished slaves though not so bland,
  4. 607And piled the hearth, and wrung their garments damp,
  5. 608And filled the bowl, and trimmed the cheerful lamp,
  6. 609And spread their fare; though homely, all they had:
  7. 610Such conduct bears Philanthropy's rare stamp:
  8. 611To rest the weary and to soothe the sad,
  9. 612Doth lesson happier men, and shames at least the bad.
  1. 613It came to pass, that when he did address
  2. 614Himself to quit at length this mountain-land,
  3. 615Combined marauders half-way barred egress,
  4. 616And wasted far and near with glaive and brand;
  5. 617And therefore did he take a trusty band
  6. 618To traverse Acarnania's forest wide,
  7. 619In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned,
  8. 620Till he did greet white Achelous' tide,
  9. 621And from his further bank Ætolia's wolds espied.
  1. 622Where lone Utraikey forms its circling cove,
  2. 623And weary waves retire to gleam at rest,
  3. 624How brown the foliage of the green hill's grove,
  4. 625Nodding at midnight o'er the calm bay's breast,
  5. 626As winds come lightly whispering from the West,
  6. 627Kissing, not ruffling, the blue deep's serene:--
  7. 628Here Harold was received a welcome guest;
  8. 629Nor did he pass unmoved the gentle scene,
  9. 630For many a joy could he from Night's soft presence glean.
  1. 631On the smooth shore the night-fires brightly blazed,
  2. 632The feast was done, the red wine circling fast,
  3. 633And he that unawares had there ygazed
  4. 634With gaping wonderment had stared aghast;
  5. 635For ere night's midmost, stillest hour was past,
  6. 636The native revels of the troop began;
  7. 637Each Palikar his sabre from him cast,
  8. 638And bounding hand in hand, man linked to man,
  9. 639Yelling their uncouth dirge, long daunced the kirtled clan.
  1. 640Childe Harold at a little distance stood
  2. 641And viewed, but not displeased, the revelrie,
  3. 642Nor hated harmless mirth, however rude:
  4. 643In sooth, it was no vulgar sight to see
  5. 644Their barbarous, yet their not indecent, glee;
  6. 645And, as the flames along their faces gleamed,
  7. 646Their gestures nimble, dark eyes flashing free,
  8. 647The long wild locks that to their girdles streamed,
  9. 648While thus in concert they this lay half sang,
  10. 649half screamed:--
  1. 650Tambourgi! Tambourgi! thy 'larum afar
  2. 651Gives hope to the valiant, and promise of war;
  3. 652All the Sons of the mountains arise at the note,
  4. 653Chimariot, Illyrian, and dark Suliote!
  1. 654Oh! who is more brave than a dark Suliote,
  2. 655In his snowy camese and his shaggy capote?
  3. 656To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flock,
  4. 657And descends to the plain like the stream from the rock.
  1. 658Shall the sons of Chimari, who never forgive
  2. 659The fault of a friend, bid an enemy live?
  3. 660Let those guns so unerring such vengeance forego?
  4. 661What mark is so fair as the breast of a foe?
  1. 662Macedonia sends forth her invincible race;
  2. 663For a time they abandon the cave and the chase:
  3. 664But those scarfs of blood-red shall be redder, before
  4. 665The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'er.
  1. 666Then the Pirates of Parga that dwell by the waves,
  2. 667And teach the pale Franks what it is to be slaves,
  3. 668Shall leave on the beach the long galley and oar,
  4. 669And track to his covert the captive on shore.
  1. 670I ask not the pleasures that riches supply,
  2. 671My sabre shall win what the feeble must buy;
  3. 672Shall win the young bride with her long flowing hair,
  4. 673And many a maid from her mother shall tear.
  1. 674I love the fair face of the maid in her youth,
  2. 675Her caresses shall lull me, her music shall soothe;
  3. 676Let her bring from the chamber her many-toned lyre,
  4. 677And sing us a song on the fall of her Sire.
  1. 678Remember the moment when Previsa fell,
  2. 679The shrieks of the conquered, the conquerors' yell;
  3. 680The roofs that we fired, and the plunder we shared,
  4. 681The wealthy we slaughtered, the lovely we spared.
  1. 682I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear;
  2. 683He neither must know who would serve the Vizier:
  3. 684Since the days of our Prophet the Crescent ne'er saw
  4. 685A chief ever glorious like Ali Pashaw.
  1. 686Dark Muchtar his son to the Danube is sped,
  2. 687Let the yellow-haired Giaours view his horse-tail with dread;
  3. 688When his Delhis come dashing in blood o'er the banks,
  4. 689How few shall escape from the Muscovite ranks!
  1. 690Selictar! unsheathe then our chief's Scimitār;
  2. 691Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of War.
  3. 692Ye Mountains, that see us descend to the shore,
  4. 693Shall view us as Victors, or view us no more!
  1. 694Fair Greece! sad relic of departed Worth!
  2. 695Immortal, though no more; though fallen, great!
  3. 696Who now shall lead thy scattered children forth,
  4. 697And long accustomed bondage uncreate?
  5. 698Not such thy sons who whilome did await,
  6. 699The helpless warriors of a willing doom,
  7. 700In bleak Thermopylæ's sepulchral strait--
  8. 701Oh! who that gallant spirit shall resume,
  9. 702Leap from Eurotas' banks, and call thee from the tomb?
  1. 703Spirit of Freedom! when on Phyle's brow
  2. 704Thou sat'st with Thrasybulus and his train,
  3. 705Couldst thou forebode the dismal hour which now
  4. 706Dims the green beauties of thine Attic plain?
  5. 707Not thirty tyrants now enforce the chain,
  6. 708But every carle can lord it o'er thy land;
  7. 709Nor rise thy sons, but idly rail in vain,
  8. 710Trembling beneath the scourge of Turkish hand,
  9. 711From birth till death enslaved; in word, in deed, unmanned.
  1. 712In all save form alone, how changed! and who
  2. 713That marks the fire still sparkling in each eye,
  3. 714Who but would deem their bosoms burned anew
  4. 715With thy unquenchéd beam, lost Liberty!
  5. 716And many dream withal the hour is nigh
  6. 717That gives them back their fathers' heritage:
  7. 718For foreign arms and aid they fondly sigh,
  8. 719Nor solely dare encounter hostile rage,
  9. 720Or tear their name defiled from Slavery's mournful page.
  1. 721Hereditary Bondsmen! know ye not
  2. 722Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?
  3. 723By their right arms the conquest must be wrought?
  4. 724Will Gaul or Muscovite redress ye? No!
  5. 725True--they may lay your proud despoilers low,
  6. 726But not for you will Freedom's Altars flame.
  7. 727Shades of the Helots! triumph o'er your foe!
  8. 728Greece! change thy lords, thy state is still the same;
  9. 729Thy glorious day is o'er, but not thine years of shame.
  1. 730The city won for Allah from the Giaour
  2. 731The Giaour from Othman's race again may wrest;
  3. 732And the Serai's impenetrable tower
  4. 733Receive the fiery Frank, her former guest;
  5. 734Or Wahab's rebel brood who dared divest
  6. 735The Prophet's tomb of all its pious spoil,
  7. 736May wind their path of blood along the West;
  8. 737But ne'er will Freedom seek this fated soil,
  9. 738But slave succeed to slave through years of endless toil.
  1. 739Yet mark their mirth--ere Lenten days begin,
  2. 740That penance which their holy rites prepare
  3. 741To shrive from Man his weight of mortal sin,
  4. 742By daily abstinence and nightly prayer;
  5. 743But ere his sackcloth garb Repentance wear,
  6. 744Some days of joyaunce are decreed to all,
  7. 745To take of pleasaunce each his secret share,
  8. 746In motley robe to dance at masking ball,
  9. 747And join the mimic train of merry Carnival.
  1. 748And whose more rife with merriment than thine,
  2. 749Oh Stamboul! once the Empress of their reign?
  3. 750Though turbans now pollute Sophia's shrine,
  4. 751And Greece her very altars eyes in vain:
  5. 752(Alas! her woes will still pervade my strain!)
  6. 753Gay were her minstrels once, for free her throng,
  7. 754All felt the common joy they now must feign,
  8. 755Nor oft I've seen such sight, nor heard such song,
  9. 756As wooed the eye, and thrilled the Bosphorus along.
  1. 757Loud was the lightsome tumult on the shore,
  2. 758Oft Music changed, but never ceased her tone,
  3. 759And timely echoed back the measured oar,
  4. 760And rippling waters made a pleasant moan:
  5. 761The Queen of tides on high consenting shone,
  6. 762And when a transient breeze swept o'er the wave,
  7. 763'Twas, as if darting from her heavenly throne,
  8. 764A brighter glance her form reflected gave,
  9. 765Till sparkling billows seemed to light the banks they lave.
  1. 766Glanced many a light Caique along the foam,
  2. 767Danced on the shore the daughters of the land,
  3. 768No thought had man or maid of rest or home,
  4. 769While many a languid eye and thrilling hand
  5. 770Exchanged the look few bosoms may withstand,
  6. 771Or gently prest, returned the pressure still:
  7. 772Oh Love! young Love! bound in thy rosy band,
  8. 773Let sage or cynic prattle as he will,
  9. 774These hours, and only these, redeem Life's years of ill!
  1. 775But, midst the throng in merry masquerade,
  2. 776Lurk there no hearts that throb with secret pain,
  3. 777Even through the closest searment half betrayed?
  4. 778To such the gentle murmurs of the main
  5. 779Seem to re-echo all they mourn in vain;
  6. 780To such the gladness of the gamesome crowd
  7. 781Is source of wayward thought and stern disdain:
  8. 782How do they loathe the laughter idly loud,
  9. 783And long to change the robe of revel for the shroud!
  1. 784This must he feel, the true-born son of Greece,
  2. 785If Greece one true-born patriot still can boast:
  3. 786Not such as prate of War, but skulk in Peace,
  4. 787The bondsman's peace, who sighs for all he lost,
  5. 788Yet with smooth smile his Tyrant can accost,
  6. 789And wield the slavish sickle, not the sword:
  7. 790Ah! Greece! they love thee least who owe thee most--
  8. 791Their birth, their blood, and that sublime record Of hero
  9. 792Sires, who shame thy now degenerate horde!
  1. 793When riseth Lacedemon's Hardihood,
  2. 794When Thebes Epaminondas rears again,
  3. 795When Athens' children are with hearts endued,
  4. 796When Grecian mothers shall give birth to men,
  5. 797Then may'st thou be restored; but not till then.
  6. 798A thousand years scarce serve to form a state;
  7. 799An hour may lay it in the dust: and when
  8. 800Can Man its shattered splendour renovate,
  9. 801Recall its virtues back, and vanquish Time and Fate?
  1. 802And yet how lovely in thine age of woe,
  2. 803Land of lost Gods and godlike men, art thou!
  3. 804Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of snow,
  4. 805Proclaim thee Nature's varied favourite now:
  5. 806Thy fanes, thy temples to thy surface bow,
  6. 807Commingling slowly with heroic earth,
  7. 808Broke by the share of every rustic plough:
  8. 809So perish monuments of mortal birth,
  9. 810So perish all in turn, save well-recorded Worth:
  1. 811Save where some solitary column mourns
  2. 812Above its prostrate brethren of the cave;
  3. 813Save where Tritonia's airy shrine adorns
  4. 814Colonna's cliff, and gleams along the wave;
  5. 815Save o'er some warrior's half-forgotten grave,
  6. 816Where the gray stones and unmolested grass
  7. 817Ages, but not Oblivion, feebly brave;
  8. 818While strangers, only, not regardless pass,
  9. 819Lingering like me, perchance, to gaze, and sigh "Alas!"
  1. 820Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild;
  2. 821Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields,
  3. 822Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled,
  4. 823And still his honied wealth Hymettus yields;
  5. 824There the blithe Bee his fragrant fortress builds,
  6. 825The free-born wanderer of thy mountain-air;
  7. 826Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds,
  8. 827Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare:
  9. 828Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.
  1. 829Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, holy ground;
  2. 830No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould,
  3. 831But one vast realm of Wonder spreads around,
  4. 832And all the Muse's tales seem truly told,
  5. 833Till the sense aches with gazing to behold
  6. 834The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt upon;
  7. 835Each hill and dale, each deepening glen and wold
  8. 836Defies the power which crushed thy temples gone:
  9. 837Age shakes Athenæ's tower, but spares gray Marathon.
  1. 838The Sun, the soil--but not the slave, the same;--
  2. 839Unchanged in all except its foreign Lord,
  3. 840Preserves alike its bounds and boundless fame
  4. 841The Battle-field, where Persia's victim horde
  5. 842First bowed beneath the brunt of Hellas' sword,
  6. 843As on the morn to distant Glory dear,
  7. 844When Marathon became a magic word;
  8. 845Which uttered, to the hearer's eye appear
  9. 846The camp, the host, the fight, the Conqueror's career,
  1. 847The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow--
  2. 848The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear;
  3. 849Mountains above--Earth's, Ocean's plain below--
  4. 850Death in the front, Destruction in the rear!
  5. 851Such was the scene--what now remaineth here?
  6. 852What sacred Trophy marks the hallowed ground,
  7. 853Recording Freedom's smile and Asia's tear?
  8. 854The rifled urn, the violated mound,
  9. 855The dust thy courser's hoof, rude stranger! spurns around.
  1. 856Yet to the remnants of thy Splendour past
  2. 857Shall pilgrims, pensive, but unwearied, throng;
  3. 858Long shall the voyager, with th' Ionian blast,
  4. 859Hail the bright clime of Battle and of Song:
  5. 860Long shall thine annals and immortal tongue
  6. 861Fill with thy fame the youth of many a shore;
  7. 862Boast of the agéd! lesson of the young!
  8. 863Which Sages venerate and Bards adore,
  9. 864As Pallas and the Muse unveil their awful lore.
  1. 865The parted bosom clings to wonted home,
  2. 866If aught that's kindred cheer the welcome hearth;
  3. 867He that is lonely--hither let him roam,
  4. 868And gaze complacent on congenial earth.
  5. 869Greece is no lightsome land of social mirth:
  6. 870But he whom Sadness sootheth may abide,
  7. 871And scarce regret the region of his birth,
  8. 872When wandering slow by Delphi's sacred side,
  9. 873Or gazing o'er the plains where Greek and Persian died.
  1. 874Let such approach this consecrated Land,
  2. 875And pass in peace along the magic waste;
  3. 876But spare its relics--let no busy hand
  4. 877Deface the scenes, already how defaced!
  5. 878Not for such purpose were these altars placed:
  6. 879Revere the remnants Nations once revered:
  7. 880So may our Country's name be undisgraced,
  8. 881So may'st thou prosper where thy youth was reared,
  9. 882By every honest joy of Love and Life endeared!
  1. 883For thee, who thus in too protracted song
  2. 884Hast soothed thine Idlesse with inglorious lays,
  3. 885Soon shall thy voice be lost amid the throng
  4. 886Of louder Minstrels in these later days:
  5. 887To such resign the strife for fading Bays--
  6. 888Ill may such contest now the spirit move
  7. 889Which heeds nor keen Reproach nor partial Praise,
  8. 890Since cold each kinder heart that might approve--
  9. 891And none are left to please when none are left to love.
  1. 892Thou too art gone, thou loved and lovely one!
  2. 893Whom Youth and Youth's affections bound to me;
  3. 894Who did for me what none beside have done,
  4. 895Nor shrank from one albeit unworthy thee.
  5. 896What is my Being! thou hast ceased to be!
  6. 897Nor staid to welcome here thy wanderer home,
  7. 898Who mourns o'er hours which we no more shall see--
  8. 899Would they had never been, or were to come!
  9. 900Would he had ne'er returned to find fresh cause to roam!
  1. 901Oh! ever loving, lovely, and beloved!
  2. 902How selfish Sorrow ponders on the past,
  3. 903And clings to thoughts now better far removed!
  4. 904But Time shall tear thy shadow from me last.
  5. 905All thou couldst have of mine, stern Death! thou hast;
  6. 906The Parent, Friend, and now the more than Friend:
  7. 907Ne'er yet for one thine arrows flew so fast,
  8. 908And grief with grief continuing still to blend,
  9. 909Hath snatched the little joy that Life had yet to lend.
  1. 910Then must I plunge again into the crowd,
  2. 911And follow all that Peace disdains to seek?
  3. 912Where Revel calls, and Laughter, vainly loud,
  4. 913False to the heart, distorts the hollow cheek,
  5. 914To leave the flagging spirit doubly weak;
  6. 915Still o'er the features, which perforce they cheer,
  7. 916To feign the pleasure or conceal the pique:
  8. 917Smiles form the channel of a future tear,
  9. 918Or raise the writhing lip with ill-dissembled sneer.
  1. 919What is the worst of woes that wait on Age?
  2. 920What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?
  3. 921To view each loved one blotted from Life's page,
  4. 922And be alone on earth, as I am now.
  5. 923Before the Chastener humbly let me bow,
  6. 924O'er Hearts divided and o'er Hopes destroyed:
  7. 925Roll on, vain days! full reckless may ye flow,
  8. 926Since Time hath reft whate'er my soul enjoyed,
  9. 927And with the ills of Eld mine earlier years alloyed.