The Siege of Corinth

  1. 1In the year since Jesus died for men,
  2. 2Eighteen hundred years and ten,
  3. 3We were a gallant company,
  4. 4Riding o'er land, and sailing o'er sea.
  5. 5Oh! but we went merrily!
  6. 6We forded the river, and clomb the high hill,
  7. 7Never our steeds for a day stood still;
  8. 8Whether we lay in the cave or the shed,
  9. 9Our sleep fell soft on the hardest bed;
  10. 10Whether we couched in our rough capote,
  11. 11On the rougher plank of our gliding boat,
  12. 12Or stretched on the beach, or our saddles spread,
  13. 13As a pillow beneath the resting head,
  14. 14Fresh we woke upon the morrow:
  15. 15All our thoughts and words had scope,
  16. 16We had health, and we had hope,
  17. 17Toil and travel, but no sorrow.
  18. 18We were of all tongues and creeds;--
  19. 19Some were those who counted beads,
  20. 20Some of mosque, and some of church,
  21. 21And some, or I mis-say, of neither;
  22. 22Yet through the wide world might ye search,
  23. 23Nor find a motlier crew nor blither.
  1. 24But some are dead, and some are gone,
  2. 25And some are scattered and alone,
  3. 26And some are rebels on the hills
  4. 27That look along Epirus' valleys,
  5. 28Where Freedom still at moments rallies,
  6. 29And pays in blood Oppression's ills;
  7. 30And some are in a far countree,
  8. 31And some all restlessly at home;
  9. 32But never more, oh! never, we
  10. 33Shall meet to revel and to roam.
  11. 34But those hardy days flew cheerily!
  12. 35And when they now fall drearily,
  13. 36My thoughts, like swallows, skim the main,
  14. 37And bear my spirit back again
  15. 38Over the earth, and through the air,
  16. 39A wild bird and a wanderer.
  17. 40'Tis this that ever wakes my strain,
  18. 41And oft, too oft, implores again
  19. 42The few who may endure my lay,
  20. 43To follow me so far away.
  21. 44Stranger, wilt thou follow now,
  22. 45And sit with me on Acro-Corinth's brow?
  1. 46Many a vanished year and age,
  2. 47And Tempest's breath, and Battle's rage,
  3. 48Have swept o'er Corinth; yet she stands,
  4. 49A fortress formed to Freedom's hands.
  5. 50The Whirlwind's wrath, the Earthquake's shock,
  6. 51Have left untouched her hoary rock,
  7. 52The keystone of a land, which still,
  8. 53Though fall'n, looks proudly on that hill,
  9. 54The landmark to the double tide
  10. 55That purpling rolls on either side,
  11. 56As if their waters chafed to meet,
  12. 57Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.
  13. 58But could the blood before her shed
  14. 59Since first Timoleon's brother bled,
  15. 60Or baffled Persia's despot fled,
  16. 61Arise from out the Earth which drank
  17. 62The stream of Slaughter as it sank,
  18. 63That sanguine Ocean would o'erflow
  19. 64Her isthmus idly spread below:
  20. 65Or could the bones of all the slain,
  21. 66Who perished there, be piled again,
  22. 67That rival pyramid would rise
  23. 68More mountain-like, through those clear skies
  24. 69Than yon tower-capp'd Acropolis,
  25. 70Which seems the very clouds to kiss.
  1. 71On dun Cithæron's ridge appears
  2. 72The gleam of twice ten thousand spears;
  3. 73And downward to the Isthmian plain,
  4. 74From shore to shore of either main,
  5. 75The tent is pitched, the Crescent shines
  6. 76Along the Moslem's leaguering lines;
  7. 77And the dusk Spahi's bands advance
  8. 78Beneath each bearded Pacha's glance;
  9. 79And far and wide as eye can reach
  10. 80The turbaned cohorts throng the beach;
  11. 81And there the Arab's camel kneels,
  12. 82And there his steed the Tartar wheels;
  13. 83The Turcoman hath left his herd,
  14. 84The sabre round his loins to gird;
  15. 85And there the volleying thunders pour,
  16. 86Till waves grow smoother to the roar.
  17. 87The trench is dug, the cannon's breath
  18. 88Wings the far hissing globe of death;
  19. 89Fast whirl the fragments from the wall,
  20. 90Which crumbles with the ponderous ball;
  21. 91And from that wall the foe replies,
  22. 92O'er dusty plain and smoky skies,
  23. 93With fares that answer fast and well
  24. 94The summons of the Infidel.
  1. 95But near and nearest to the wall
  2. 96Of those who wish and work its fall,
  3. 97With deeper skill in War's black art,
  4. 98Than Othman's sons, and high of heart
  5. 99As any Chief that ever stood
  6. 100Triumphant in the fields of blood;
  7. 101From post to post, and deed to deed,
  8. 102Fast spurring on his reeking steed,
  9. 103Where sallying ranks the trench assail,
  10. 104And make the foremost Moslem quail;
  11. 105Or where the battery, guarded well,
  12. 106Remains as yet impregnable,
  13. 107Alighting cheerly to inspire
  14. 108The soldier slackening in his fire;
  15. 109The first and freshest of the host
  16. 110Which Stamboul's Sultan there can boast,
  17. 111To guide the follower o'er the field,
  18. 112To point the tube, the lance to wield,
  19. 113Or whirl around the bickering blade;--
  20. 114Was Alp, the Adrian renegade!
  1. 115From Venice--once a race of worth
  2. 116His gentle Sires--he drew his birth;
  3. 117But late an exile from her shore,
  4. 118Against his countrymen he bore
  5. 119The arms they taught to bear; and now
  6. 120The turban girt his shaven brow.
  7. 121Through many a change had Corinth passed
  8. 122With Greece to Venice' rule at last;
  9. 123And here, before her walls, with those
  10. 124To Greece and Venice equal foes,
  11. 125He stood a foe, with all the zeal
  12. 126Which young and fiery converts feel,
  13. 127Within whose heated bosom throngs
  14. 128The memory of a thousand wrongs.
  15. 129To him had Venice ceased to be
  16. 130Her ancient civic boast--"the Free;"
  17. 131And in the palace of St. Mark
  18. 132Unnamed accusers in the dark
  19. 133Within the "Lion's mouth" had placed
  20. 134A charge against him uneffaced:
  21. 135He fled in time, and saved his life,
  22. 136To waste his future years in strife,
  23. 137That taught his land how great her loss
  24. 138In him who triumphed o'er the Cross,
  25. 139'Gainst which he reared the Crescent high,
  26. 140And battled to avenge or die.
  1. 141Coumourgi --he whose closing scene
  2. 142Adorned the triumph of Eugene,
  3. 143When on Carlowitz' bloody plain,
  4. 144The last and mightiest of the slain,
  5. 145He sank, regretting not to die,
  6. 146But cursed the Christian's victory--
  7. 147Coumourgi--can his glory cease,
  8. 148That latest conqueror of Greece,
  9. 149Till Christian hands to Greece restore
  10. 150The freedom Venice gave of yore?
  11. 151A hundred years have rolled away
  12. 152Since he refixed the Moslem's sway;
  13. 153And now he led the Mussulman,
  14. 154And gave the guidance of the van
  15. 155To Alp, who well repaid the trust
  16. 156By cities levelled with the dust;
  17. 157And proved, by many a deed of death,
  18. 158How firm his heart in novel faith.
  1. 159The walls grew weak; and fast and hot
  2. 160Against them poured the ceaseless shot,
  3. 161With unabating fury sent
  4. 162From battery to battlement;
  5. 163And thunder-like the pealing din
  6. 164Rose from each heated culverin;
  7. 165And here and there some crackling dome
  8. 166Was fired before the exploding bomb;
  9. 167And as the fabric sank beneath
  10. 168The shattering shell's volcanic breath,
  11. 169In red and wreathing columns flashed
  12. 170The flame, as loud the ruin crashed,
  13. 171Or into countless meteors driven,
  14. 172Its earth-stars melted into heaven;
  15. 173Whose clouds that day grew doubly dun,
  16. 174Impervious to the hidden sun,
  17. 175With volumed smoke that slowly grew
  18. 176To one wide sky of sulphurous hue.
  1. 177But not for vengeance, long delayed,
  2. 178Alone, did Alp, the renegade,
  3. 179The Moslem warriors sternly teach
  4. 180His skill to pierce the promised breach:
  5. 181Within these walls a Maid was pent
  6. 182His hope would win, without consent
  7. 183Of that inexorable Sire,
  8. 184Whose heart refused him in its ire,
  9. 185When Alp, beneath his Christian name,
  10. 186Her virgin hand aspired to claim.
  11. 187In happier mood, and earlier time,
  12. 188While unimpeached for traitorous crime,
  13. 189Gayest in Gondola or Hall,
  14. 190He glittered through the Carnival;
  15. 191And tuned the softest serenade
  16. 192That e'er on Adria's waters played
  17. 193At midnight to Italian maid.
  1. 194And many deemed her heart was won;
  2. 195For sought by numbers, given to none,
  3. 196Had young Francesca's hand remained
  4. 197Still by the Church's bonds unchained:
  5. 198And when the Adriatic bore
  6. 199Lanciotto to the Paynim shore,
  7. 200Her wonted smiles were seen to fail,
  8. 201And pensive waxed the maid and pale;
  9. 202More constant at confessional,
  10. 203More rare at masque and festival;
  11. 204Or seen at such, with downcast eyes,
  12. 205Which conquered hearts they ceased to prize:
  13. 206With listless look she seems to gaze:
  14. 207With humbler care her form arrays;
  15. 208Her voice less lively in the song;
  16. 209Her step, though light, less fleet among
  17. 210The pairs, on whom the Morning's glance
  18. 211Breaks, yet unsated with the dance.
  1. 212Sent by the State to guard the land,
  2. 213(Which, wrested from the Moslem's hand,
  3. 214While Sobieski tamed his pride
  4. 215By Buda's wall and Danube's side,
  5. 216The chiefs of Venice wrung away
  6. 217From Patra to Euboea's bay,)
  7. 218Minotti held in Corinth's towers
  8. 219The Doge's delegated powers,
  9. 220While yet the pitying eye of Peace
  10. 221Smiled o'er her long forgotten Greece:
  11. 222And ere that faithless truce was broke
  12. 223Which freed her from the unchristian yoke,
  13. 224With him his gentle daughter came;
  14. 225Nor there, since Menelaus' dame
  15. 226Forsook her lord and land, to prove
  16. 227What woes await on lawless love,
  17. 228Had fairer form adorned the shore
  18. 229Than she, the matchless stranger, bore.
  1. 230The wall is rent, the ruins yawn;
  2. 231And, with to-morrow's earliest dawn,
  3. 232O'er the disjointed mass shall vault
  4. 233The foremost of the fierce assault.
  5. 234The bands are ranked--the chosen van
  6. 235Of Tartar and of Mussulman,
  7. 236The full of hope, misnamed "forlorn,"
  8. 237Who hold the thought of death in scorn,
  9. 238And win their way with falchion's force,
  10. 239Or pave the path with many a corse,
  11. 240O'er which the following brave may rise,
  12. 241Their stepping-stone--the last who dies!
  1. 242'Tis midnight: on the mountains brown
  2. 243The cold, round moon shines deeply down;
  3. 244Blue roll the waters, blue the sky
  4. 245Spreads like an ocean hung on high,
  5. 246Bespangled with those isles of light,
  6. 247So wildly, spiritually bright;
  7. 248Who ever gazed upon them shining
  8. 249And turned to earth without repining,
  9. 250Nor wished for wings to flee away,
  10. 251And mix with their eternal ray?
  11. 252The waves on either shore lay there
  12. 253Calm, clear, and azure as the air;
  13. 254And scarce their foam the pebbles shook,
  14. 255But murmured meekly as the brook.
  15. 256The winds were pillowed on the waves;
  16. 257The banners drooped along their staves,
  17. 258And, as they fell around them furling,
  18. 259Above them shone the crescent curling;
  19. 260And that deep silence was unbroke,
  20. 261Save where the watch his signal spoke,
  21. 262Save where the steed neighed oft and shrill,
  22. 263And echo answered from the hill,
  23. 264And the wide hum of that wild host
  24. 265Rustled like leaves from coast to coast,
  25. 266As rose the Muezzin's voice in air
  26. 267In midnight call to wonted prayer;
  27. 268It rose, that chanted mournful strain,
  28. 269Like some lone Spirit's o'er the plain:
  29. 270'Twas musical, but sadly sweet,
  30. 271Such as when winds and harp-strings meet,
  31. 272And take a long unmeasured tone,
  32. 273To mortal minstrelsy unknown.
  33. 274It seemed to those within the wall
  34. 275A cry prophetic of their fall:
  35. 276It struck even the besieger's ear
  36. 277With something ominous and drear,
  37. 278An undefined and sudden thrill,
  38. 279Which makes the heart a moment still,
  39. 280Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed
  40. 281Of that strange sense its silence framed;
  41. 282Such as a sudden passing-bell
  42. 283Wakes, though but for a stranger's knell.
  1. 284The tent of Alp was on the shore;
  2. 285The sound was hushed, the prayer was o'er;
  3. 286The watch was set, the night-round made,
  4. 287All mandates issued and obeyed:
  5. 288'Tis but another anxious night,
  6. 289His pains the morrow may requite
  7. 290With all Revenge and Love can pay,
  8. 291In guerdon for their long delay.
  9. 292Few hours remain, and he hath need
  10. 293Of rest, to nerve for many a deed
  11. 294Of slaughter; but within his soul
  12. 295The thoughts like troubled waters roll.
  13. 296He stood alone among the host;
  14. 297Not his the loud fanatic boast
  15. 298To plant the Crescent o'er the Cross,
  16. 299Or risk a life with little loss,
  17. 300Secure in paradise to be
  18. 301By Houris loved immortally:
  19. 302Nor his, what burning patriots feel,
  20. 303The stern exaltedness of zeal,
  21. 304Profuse of blood, untired in toil,
  22. 305When battling on the parent soil.
  23. 306He stood alone--a renegade
  24. 307Against the country he betrayed;
  25. 308He stood alone amidst his band,
  26. 309Without a trusted heart or hand:
  27. 310They followed him, for he was brave,
  28. 311And great the spoil he got and gave;
  29. 312They crouched to him, for he had skill
  30. 313To warp and wield the vulgar will:
  31. 314But still his Christian origin
  32. 315With them was little less than sin.
  33. 316They envied even the faithless fame
  34. 317He earned beneath a Moslem name;
  35. 318Since he, their mightiest chief, had been
  36. 319In youth a bitter Nazarene.
  37. 320They did not know how Pride can stoop,
  38. 321When baffled feelings withering droop;
  39. 322They did not know how Hate can burn
  40. 323In hearts once changed from soft to stern;
  41. 324Nor all the false and fatal zeal
  42. 325The convert of Revenge can feel.
  43. 326He ruled them--man may rule the worst,
  44. 327By ever daring to be first:
  45. 328So lions o'er the jackals sway;
  46. 329The jackal points, he fells the prey,
  47. 330Then on the vulgar, yelling, press,
  48. 331To gorge the relics of success.
  1. 332His head grows fevered, and his pulse
  2. 333The quick successive throbs convulse;
  3. 334In vain from side to side he throws
  4. 335His form, in courtship of repose;
  5. 336Or if he dozed, a sound, a start
  6. 337Awoke him with a sunken heart.
  7. 338The turban on his hot brow pressed,
  8. 339The mail weighed lead-like on his breast,
  9. 340Though oft and long beneath its weight
  10. 341Upon his eyes had slumber sate,
  11. 342Without or couch or canopy,
  12. 343Except a rougher field and sky
  13. 344Than now might yield a warrior's bed,
  14. 345Than now along the heaven was spread.
  15. 346He could not rest, he could not stay
  16. 347Within his tent to wait for day,
  17. 348But walked him forth along the sand,
  18. 349Where thousand sleepers strewed the strand.
  19. 350What pillowed them? and why should he
  20. 351More wakeful than the humblest be,
  21. 352Since more their peril, worse their toil?
  22. 353And yet they fearless dream of spoil;
  23. 354While he alone, where thousands passed
  24. 355A night of sleep, perchance their last,
  25. 356In sickly vigil wandered on,
  26. 357And envied all he gazed upon.
  1. 358He felt his soul become more light
  2. 359Beneath the freshness of the night.
  3. 360Cool was the silent sky, though calm,
  4. 361And bathed his brow with airy balm:
  5. 362Behind, the camp--before him lay,
  6. 363In many a winding creek and bay,
  7. 364Lepanto's gulf; and, on the brow
  8. 365Of Delphi's hill, unshaken snow,
  9. 366High and eternal, such as shone
  10. 367Through thousand summers brightly gone,
  11. 368Along the gulf, the mount, the clime;
  12. 369It will not melt, like man, to time:
  13. 370Tyrant and slave are swept away,
  14. 371Less formed to wear before the ray;
  15. 372But that white veil, the lightest, frailest,
  16. 373Which on the mighty mount thou hailest,
  17. 374While tower and tree are torn and rent,
  18. 375Shines o'er its craggy battlement;
  19. 376In form a peak, in height a cloud,
  20. 377In texture like a hovering shroud,
  21. 378Thus high by parting Freedom spread,
  22. 379As from her fond abode she fled,
  23. 380And lingered on the spot, where long
  24. 381Her prophet spirit spake in song.
  25. 382Oh! still her step at moments falters
  26. 383O'er withered fields, and ruined altars,
  27. 384And fain would wake, in souls too broken,
  28. 385By pointing to each glorious token:
  29. 386But vain her voice, till better days
  30. 387Dawn in those yet remembered rays,
  31. 388Which shone upon the Persian flying,
  32. 389And saw the Spartan smile in dying.
  1. 390Not mindless of these mighty times
  2. 391Was Alp, despite his flight and crimes;
  3. 392And through this night, as on he wandered,
  4. 393And o'er the past and present pondered,
  5. 394And thought upon the glorious dead
  6. 395Who there in better cause had bled,
  7. 396He felt how faint and feebly dim
  8. 397The fame that could accrue to him,
  9. 398Who cheered the band, and waved the sword,
  10. 399A traitor in a turbaned horde;
  11. 400And led them to the lawless siege,
  12. 401Whose best success were sacrilege.
  13. 402Not so had those his fancy numbered,
  14. 403The chiefs whose dust around him slumbered;
  15. 404Their phalanx marshalled on the plain,
  16. 405Whose bulwarks were not then in vain.
  17. 406They fell devoted, but undying;
  18. 407The very gale their names seemed sighing;
  19. 408The waters murmured of their name;
  20. 409The woods were peopled with their fame;
  21. 410The silent pillar, lone and grey,
  22. 411Claimed kindred with their sacred clay;
  23. 412Their spirits wrapped the dusky mountain,
  24. 413Their memory sparkled o'er the fountain;
  25. 414The meanest rill, the mightiest river
  26. 415Rolled mingling with their fame for ever.
  27. 416Despite of every yoke she bears,
  28. 417That land is Glory's still and theirs!
  29. 418'Tis still a watch-word to the earth:
  30. 419When man would do a deed of worth
  31. 420He points to Greece, and turns to tread,
  32. 421So sanctioned, on the tyrant's head:
  33. 422He looks to her, and rushes on
  34. 423Where life is lost, or Freedom won.
  1. 424Still by the shore Alp mutely mused,
  2. 425And wooed the freshness Night diffused.
  3. 426There shrinks no ebb in that tideless sea,
  4. 427Which changeless rolls eternally;
  5. 428So that wildest of waves, in their angriest mood,
  6. 429Scarce break on the bounds of the land for a rood;
  7. 430And the powerless moon beholds them flow,
  8. 431Heedless if she come or go:
  9. 432Calm or high, in main or bay,
  10. 433On their course she hath no sway.
  11. 434The rock unworn its base doth bare,
  12. 435And looks o'er the surf, but it comes not there;
  13. 436And the fringe of the foam may be seen below,
  14. 437On the line that it left long ages ago:
  15. 438A smooth short space of yellow sand
  16. 439Between it and the greener land.
  1. 440He wandered on along the beach,
  2. 441Till within the range of a carbine's reach
  3. 442Of the leaguered wall; but they saw him not,
  4. 443Or how could he 'scape from the hostile shot?
  5. 444Did traitors lurk in the Christians' hold?
  6. 445Were their hands grown stiff, or their hearts waxed cold?
  7. 446I know not, in sooth; but from yonder wall
  8. 447There flashed no fire, and there hissed no ball,
  9. 448Though he stood beneath the bastion's frown,
  10. 449That flanked the seaward gate of the town;
  11. 450Though he heard the sound, and could almost tell
  12. 451The sullen words of the sentinel,
  13. 452As his measured step on the stone below
  14. 453Clanked, as he paced it to and fro;
  15. 454And he saw the lean dogs beneath the wall
  16. 455Hold o'er the dead their Carnival,
  17. 456Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb;
  18. 457They were too busy to bark at him!
  19. 458From a Tartar's skull they had stripped the flesh,
  20. 459As ye peel the fig when its fruit is fresh;
  21. 460And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull,
  22. 461As it slipped through their jaws, when their edge grew dull,
  23. 462As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead,
  24. 463When they scarce could rise from the spot where they fed;
  25. 464So well had they broken a lingering fast
  26. 465With those who had fallen for that night's repast.
  27. 466And Alp knew, by the turbans that rolled on the sand,
  28. 467The foremost of these were the best of his band:
  29. 468Crimson and green were the shawls of their wear,
  30. 469And each scalp had a single long tuft of hair,
  31. 470All the rest was shaven and bare.
  32. 471The scalps were in the wild dog's maw,
  33. 472The hair was tangled round his jaw:
  34. 473But close by the shore, on the edge of the gulf,
  35. 474There sat a vulture flapping a wolf,
  36. 475Who had stolen from the hills, but kept away,
  37. 476Scared by the dogs, from the human prey;
  38. 477But he seized on his share of a steed that lay,
  39. 478Picked by the birds, on the sands of the bay.
  1. 479Alp turned him from the sickening sight:
  2. 480Never had shaken his nerves in fight;
  3. 481But he better could brook to behold the dying,
  4. 482Deep in the tide of their warm blood lying,
  5. 483Scorched with the death-thirst, and writhing in vain,
  6. 484Than the perishing dead who are past all pain.
  7. 485There is something of pride in the perilous hour,
  8. 486Whate'er be the shape in which Death may lower;
  9. 487For Fame is there to say who bleeds,
  10. 488And Honour's eye on daring deeds!
  11. 489But when all is past, it is humbling to tread
  12. 490O'er the weltering field of the tombless dead,
  13. 491And see worms of the earth, and fowls of the air,
  14. 492Beasts of the forest, all gathering there;
  15. 493All regarding man as their prey,
  16. 494All rejoicing in his decay.
  1. 495There is a temple in ruin stands,
  2. 496Fashioned by long forgotten hands;
  3. 497Two or three columns, and many a stone,
  4. 498Marble and granite, with grass o'ergrown!
  5. 499Out upon Time! it will leave no more
  6. 500Of the things to come than the things before!
  7. 501Out upon Time! who for ever will leave
  8. 502But enough of the past for the future to grieve
  9. 503O'er that which hath been, and o'er that which must be:
  10. 504What we have seen, our sons shall see;
  11. 505Remnants of things that have passed away,
  12. 506Fragments of stone, reared by creatures of clay!
  1. 507He sate him down at a pillar's base,
  2. 508And passed his hand athwart his face;
  3. 509Like one in dreary musing mood,
  4. 510Declining was his attitude;
  5. 511His head was drooping on his breast,
  6. 512Fevered, throbbing, and oppressed;
  7. 513And o'er his brow, so downward bent,
  8. 514Oft his beating fingers went,
  9. 515Hurriedly, as you may see
  10. 516Your own run over the ivory key,
  11. 517Ere the measured tone is taken
  12. 518By the chords you would awaken.
  13. 519There he sate all heavily,
  14. 520As he heard the night-wind sigh.
  15. 521Was it the wind through some hollow stone,
  16. 522Sent that soft and tender moan?
  17. 523He lifted his head, and he looked on the sea,
  18. 524But it was unrippled as glass may be;
  19. 525He looked on the long grass--it waved not a blade;
  20. 526How was that gentle sound conveyed?
  21. 527He looked to the banners--each flag lay still,
  22. 528So did the leaves on Cithæron's hill,
  23. 529And he felt not a breath come over his cheek;
  24. 530What did that sudden sound bespeak?
  25. 531He turned to the left--is he sure of sight?
  26. 532There sate a lady, youthful and bright!
  1. 533He started up with more of fear
  2. 534Than if an arméd foe were near.
  3. 535"God of my fathers! what is here?
  4. 536Who art thou? and wherefore sent
  5. 537So near a hostile armament?"
  6. 538His trembling hands refused to sign
  7. 539The cross he deemed no more divine:
  8. 540He had resumed it in that hour,
  9. 541But Conscience wrung away the power.
  10. 542He gazed, he saw; he knew the face
  11. 543Of beauty, and the form of grace;
  12. 544It was Francesca by his side,
  13. 545The maid who might have been his bride!
  1. 546The rose was yet upon her cheek,
  2. 547But mellowed with a tenderer streak:
  3. 548Where was the play of her soft lips fled?
  4. 549Gone was the smile that enlivened their red.
  5. 550The Ocean's calm within their view,
  6. 551Beside her eye had less of blue;
  7. 552But like that cold wave it stood still,
  8. 553And its glance, though clear, was chill.
  9. 554Around her form a thin robe twining,
  10. 555Nought concealed her bosom shining;
  11. 556Through the parting of her hair,
  12. 557Floating darkly downward there,
  13. 558Her rounded arm showed white and bare:
  14. 559And ere yet she made reply,
  15. 560Once she raised her hand on high;
  16. 561It was so wan, and transparent of hue,
  17. 562You might have seen the moon shine through.
  1. 563"I come from my rest to him I love best,
  2. 564That I may be happy, and he may be blessed.
  3. 565I have passed the guards, the gate, the wall;
  4. 566Sought thee in safety through foes and all.
  5. 567'Tis said the lion will turn and flee
  6. 568From a maid in the pride of her purity;
  7. 569And the Power on high, that can shield the good
  8. 570Thus from the tyrant of the wood,
  9. 571Hath extended its mercy to guard me as well
  10. 572From the hands of the leaguering Infidel.
  11. 573I come--and if I come in vain,
  12. 574Never, oh never, we meet again!
  13. 575Thou hast done a fearful deed
  14. 576In falling away from thy fathers' creed:
  15. 577But dash that turban to earth, and sign
  16. 578The sign of the cross, and for ever be mine;
  17. 579Wring the black drop from thy heart,
  18. 580And to-morrow unites us no more to part."
  1. 581"And where should our bridal couch be spread?
  2. 582In the midst of the dying and the dead?
  3. 583For to-morrow we give to the slaughter and flame
  4. 584The sons and the shrines of the Christian name.
  5. 585None, save thou and thine, I've sworn,
  6. 586Shall be left upon the morn:
  7. 587But thee will I bear to a lovely spot,
  8. 588Where our hands shall be joined, and our sorrow forgot.
  9. 589There thou yet shall be my bride,
  10. 590When once again I've quelled the pride
  11. 591Of Venice; and her hated race
  12. 592Have felt the arm they would debase
  13. 593Scourge, with a whip of scorpions, those
  14. 594Whom Vice and Envy made my foes."
  1. 595Upon his hand she laid her own--
  2. 596Light was the touch, but it thrilled to the bone,
  3. 597And shot a chillness to his heart,
  4. 598Which fixed him beyond the power to start.
  5. 599Though slight was that grasp so mortal cold,
  6. 600He could not loose him from its hold;
  7. 601But never did clasp of one so dear
  8. 602Strike on the pulse with such feeling of fear,
  9. 603As those thin fingers, long and white,
  10. 604Froze through his blood by their touch that night.
  11. 605The feverish glow of his brow was gone,
  12. 606And his heart sank so still that it felt like stone,
  13. 607As he looked on the face, and beheld its hue,
  14. 608So deeply changed from what he knew:
  15. 609Fair but faint--without the ray
  16. 610Of mind, that made each feature play
  17. 611Like sparkling waves on a sunny day;
  18. 612And her motionless lips lay still as death,
  19. 613And her words came forth without her breath,
  20. 614And there rose not a heave o'er her bosom's swell,
  21. 615And there seemed not a pulse in her veins to dwell.
  22. 616Though her eye shone out, yet the lids were fixed,
  23. 617And the glance that it gave was wild and unmixed
  24. 618With aught of change, as the eyes may seem
  25. 619Of the restless who walk in a troubled dream;
  26. 620Like the figures on arras, that gloomily glare,
  27. 621Stirred by the breath of the wintry air
  28. 622So seen by the dying lamp's fitful light,
  29. 623Lifeless, but life-like, and awful to sight;
  30. 624As they seem, through the dimness, about to come down
  31. 625From the shadowy wall where their images frown;
  32. 626Fearfully flitting to and fro,
  33. 627As the gusts on the tapestry come and go.
  1. 628"If not for love of me be given
  2. 629Thus much, then, for the love of Heaven,--
  3. 630Again I say--that turban tear
  4. 631From off thy faithless brow, and swear
  5. 632Thine injured country's sons to spare,
  6. 633Or thou art lost; and never shalt see--
  7. 634Not earth--that's past--but Heaven or me.
  8. 635If this thou dost accord, albeit
  9. 636A heavy doom' tis thine to meet,
  10. 637That doom shall half absolve thy sin,
  11. 638And Mercy's gate may receive thee within:
  12. 639But pause one moment more, and take
  13. 640The curse of Him thou didst forsake;
  14. 641And look once more to Heaven, and see
  15. 642Its love for ever shut from thee.
  16. 643There is a light cloud by the moon--
  17. 644'Tis passing, and will pass full soon--
  18. 645If, by the time its vapoury sail
  19. 646Hath ceased her shaded orb to veil,
  20. 647Thy heart within thee is not changed,
  21. 648Then God and man are both avenged;
  22. 649Dark will thy doom be, darker still
  23. 650Thine immortality of ill."
  1. 651Alp looked to heaven, and saw on high
  2. 652The sign she spake of in the sky;
  3. 653But his heart was swollen, and turned aside,
  4. 654By deep interminable pride.
  5. 655This first false passion of his breast
  6. 656Rolled like a torrent o'er the rest.
  7. 657He sue for mercy! He dismayed
  8. 658By wild words of a timid maid!
  9. 659He, wronged by Venice, vow to save
  10. 660Her sons, devoted to the grave!
  11. 661No--though that cloud were thunder's worst,
  12. 662And charged to crush him--let it burst!
  1. 663He looked upon it earnestly,
  2. 664Without an accent of reply;
  3. 665He watched it passing; it is flown:
  4. 666Full on his eye the clear moon shone,
  5. 667And thus he spake--"Whate'er my fate,
  6. 668I am no changeling--'tis too late:
  7. 669The reed in storms may bow and quiver,
  8. 670Then rise again; the tree must shiver.
  9. 671What Venice made me, I must be,
  10. 672Her foe in all, save love to thee:
  11. 673But thou art safe: oh, fly with me!"
  12. 674He turned, but she is gone!
  13. 675Nothing is there but the column stone.
  14. 676Hath she sunk in the earth, or melted in air?
  15. 677He saw not--he knew not--but nothing is there.
  1. 678The night is past, and shines the sun
  2. 679As if that morn were a jocund one.
  3. 680Lightly and brightly breaks away
  4. 681The Morning from her mantle grey,
  5. 682And the Noon will look on a sultry day.
  6. 683Hark to the trump, and the drum,
  7. 684And the mournful sound of the barbarous horn,
  8. 685And the flap of the banners, that flit as they're borne,
  9. 686And the neigh of the steed, and the multitude's hum,
  10. 687And the clash, and the shout, "They come! they come!"
  11. 688The horsetails are plucked from the ground, and the sword
  12. 689From its sheath; and they form, and but wait for the word.
  13. 690Tartar, and Spahi, and Turcoman,
  14. 691Strike your tents, and throng to the van;
  15. 692Mount ye, spur ye, skirr the plain,
  16. 693That the fugitive may flee in vain,
  17. 694When he breaks from the town; and none escape,
  18. 695Agéd or young, in the Christian shape;
  19. 696While your fellows on foot, in a fiery mass,
  20. 697Bloodstain the breach through which they pass.
  21. 698The steeds are all bridled, and snort to the rein;
  22. 699Curved is each neck, and flowing each mane;
  23. 700White is the foam of their champ on the bit;
  24. 701The spears are uplifted; the matches are lit;
  25. 702The cannon are pointed, and ready to roar,
  26. 703And crush the wall they have crumbled before:
  27. 704Forms in his phalanx each Janizar;
  28. 705Alp at their head; his right arm is bare,
  29. 706So is the blade of his scimitar;
  30. 707The Khan and the Pachas are all at their post;
  31. 708The Vizier himself at the head of the host.
  32. 709When the culverin's signal is fired, then on;
  33. 710Leave not in Corinth a living one--
  34. 711A priest at her altars, a chief in her halls,
  35. 712A hearth in her mansions, a stone on her walls.
  36. 713God and the prophet--Alla Hu!
  37. 714Up to the skies with that wild halloo!
  38. 715"There the breach lies for passage, the ladder to scale;
  39. 716And your hands on your sabres, and how should ye fail?
  40. 717He who first downs with the red cross may crave
  41. 718His heart's dearest wish; let him ask it, and have!"
  42. 719Thus uttered Coumourgi, the dauntless Vizier;
  43. 720The reply was the brandish of sabre and spear,
  44. 721And the shout of fierce thousands in joyous ire:--
  45. 722Silence--hark to the signal--fire!
  1. 723As the wolves, that headlong go
  2. 724On the stately buffalo,
  3. 725Though with fiery eyes, and angry roar,
  4. 726And hoofs that stamp, and horns that gore,
  5. 727He tramples on earth, or tosses on high
  6. 728The foremost, who rush on his strength but to die
  7. 729Thus against the wall they went,
  8. 730Thus the first were backward bent;
  9. 731Many a bosom, sheathed in brass,
  10. 732Strewed the earth like broken glass,
  11. 733Shivered by the shot, that tore
  12. 734The ground whereon they moved no more:
  13. 735Even as they fell, in files they lay,
  14. 736Like the mower's grass at the close of day,
  15. 737When his work is done on the levelled plain;
  16. 738Such was the fall of the foremost slain.
  1. 739As the spring-tides, with heavy plash,
  2. 740From the cliffs invading dash
  3. 741Huge fragments, sapped by the ceaseless flow,
  4. 742Till white and thundering down they go,
  5. 743Like the avalanche's snow
  6. 744On the Alpine vales below;
  7. 745Thus at length, outbreathed and worn,
  8. 746Corinth's sons were downward borne
  9. 747By the long and oft renewed
  10. 748Charge of the Moslem multitude.
  11. 749In firmness they stood, and in masses they fell,
  12. 750Heaped by the host of the Infidel,
  13. 751Hand to hand, and foot to foot:
  14. 752Nothing there, save Death, was mute;
  15. 753Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry
  16. 754For quarter, or for victory,
  17. 755Mingle there with the volleying thunder,
  18. 756Which makes the distant cities wonder
  19. 757How the sounding battle goes,
  20. 758If with them, or for their foes;
  21. 759If they must mourn, or may rejoice
  22. 760In that annihilating voice,
  23. 761Which pierces the deep hills through and through
  24. 762With an echo dread and new:
  25. 763You might have heard it, on that day,
  26. 764O'er Salamis and Megara;
  27. 765(We have heard the hearers say,)
  28. 766Even unto Piræus' bay.
  1. 767From the point of encountering blades to the hilt,
  2. 768Sabres and swords with blood were gilt;
  3. 769But the rampart is won, and the spoil begun,
  4. 770And all but the after carnage done.
  5. 771Shriller shrieks now mingling come
  6. 772From within the plundered dome:
  7. 773Hark to the haste of flying feet,
  8. 774That splash in the blood of the slippery street;
  9. 775But here and there, where 'vantage ground
  10. 776Against the foe may still be found,
  11. 777Desperate groups, of twelve or ten,
  12. 778Make a pause, and turn again--
  13. 779With banded backs against the wall,
  14. 780Fiercely stand, or fighting fall.
  15. 781There stood an old man--his hairs were white,
  16. 782But his veteran arm was full of might:
  17. 783So gallantly bore he the brunt of the fray,
  18. 784The dead before him, on that day,
  19. 785In a semicircle lay;
  20. 786Still he combated unwounded,
  21. 787Though retreating, unsurrounded.
  22. 788Many a scar of former fight
  23. 789Lurked beneath his corslet bright;
  24. 790But of every wound his body bore,
  25. 791Each and all had been ta'en before:
  26. 792Though agéd, he was so iron of limb,
  27. 793Few of our youth could cope with him,
  28. 794And the foes, whom he singly kept at bay,
  29. 795Outnumbered his thin hairs of silver grey.
  30. 796From right to left his sabre swept:
  31. 797Many an Othman mother wept
  32. 798Sons that were unborn, when dipped
  33. 799His weapon first in Moslem gore,
  34. 800Ere his years could count a score.
  35. 801Of all he might have been the sire
  36. 802Who fell that day beneath his ire:
  37. 803For, sonless left long years ago,
  38. 804His wrath made many a childless foe;
  39. 805And since the day, when in the strait
  40. 806His only boy had met his fate,
  41. 807His parent's iron hand did doom
  42. 808More than a human hecatomb.
  43. 809If shades by carnage be appeased,
  44. 810Patroclus' spirit less was pleased
  45. 811Than his, Minotti's son, who died
  46. 812Where Asia's bounds and ours divide.
  47. 813Buried he lay, where thousands before
  48. 814For thousands of years were inhumed on the shore;
  49. 815What of them is left, to tell
  50. 816Where they lie, and how they fell?
  51. 817Not a stone on their turf, nor a bone in their graves;
  52. 818But they live in the verse that immortally saves.
  1. 819Hark to the Allah shout! a band
  2. 820Of the Mussulman bravest and best is at hand;
  3. 821Their leader's nervous arm is bare,
  4. 822Swifter to smite, and never to spare--
  5. 823Unclothed to the shoulder it waves them on;
  6. 824Thus in the fight is he ever known:
  7. 825Others a gaudier garb may show,
  8. 826To tempt the spoil of the greedy foe;
  9. 827Many a hand's on a richer hilt,
  10. 828But none on a steel more ruddily gilt;
  11. 829Many a loftier turban may wear,--
  12. 830Alp is but known by the white arm bare;
  13. 831Look through the thick of the fight,'tis there!
  14. 832There is not a standard on that shore
  15. 833So well advanced the ranks before;
  16. 834There is not a banner in Moslem war
  17. 835Will lure the Delhis half so far;
  18. 836It glances like a falling star!
  19. 837Where'er that mighty arm is seen,
  20. 838The bravest be, or late have been;
  21. 839There the craven cries for quarter
  22. 840Vainly to the vengeful Tartar;
  23. 841Or the hero, silent lying,
  24. 842Scorns to yield a groan in dying;
  25. 843Mustering his last feeble blow
  26. 844'Gainst the nearest levelled foe,
  27. 845Though faint beneath the mutual wound,
  28. 846Grappling on the gory ground.
  1. 847Still the old man stood erect.
  2. 848And Alp's career a moment checked.
  3. 849"Yield thee, Minotti; quarter take,
  4. 850For thine own, thy daughter's sake."
  5. 851"Never, Renegado, never!
  6. 852Though the life of thy gift would last for ever."
  1. 853"Francesca!--Oh, my promised bride!
  2. 854Must she too perish by thy pride!"
  3. 855"She is safe."--"Where? where?"--"In Heaven;
  4. 856From whence thy traitor soul is driven--
  5. 857Far from thee, and undefiled."
  6. 858Grimly then Minotti smiled,
  7. 859As he saw Alp staggering bow
  8. 860Before his words, as with a blow.
  1. 861"Oh God! when died she?"--"Yesternight--
  2. 862Nor weep I for her spirit's flight:
  3. 863None of my pure race shall be
  4. 864Slaves to Mahomet and thee--
  5. 865Come on!"--That challenge is in vain--
  6. 866Alp's already with the slain!
  7. 867While Minotti's words were wreaking
  8. 868More revenge in bitter speaking
  9. 869Than his falchion's point had found,
  10. 870Had the time allowed to wound,
  11. 871From within the neighbouring porch
  12. 872Of a long defended church,
  13. 873Where the last and desperate few
  14. 874Would the failing fight renew,
  15. 875The sharp shot dashed Alp to the ground;
  16. 876Ere an eye could view the wound
  17. 877That crashed through the brain of the infidel,
  18. 878Round he spun, and down he fell;
  19. 879A flash like fire within his eyes
  20. 880Blazed, as he bent no more to rise,
  21. 881And then eternal darkness sunk
  22. 882Through all the palpitating trunk;
  23. 883Nought of life left, save a quivering
  24. 884Where his limbs were slightly shivering:
  25. 885They turned him on his back; his breast
  26. 886And brow were stained with gore and dust,
  27. 887And through his lips the life-blood oozed,
  28. 888From its deep veins lately loosed;
  29. 889But in his pulse there was no throb,
  30. 890Nor on his lips one dying sob;
  31. 891Sigh, nor word, nor struggling breath
  32. 892Heralded his way to death:
  33. 893Ere his very thought could pray,
  34. 894Unaneled he passed away,
  35. 895Without a hope from Mercy's aid,--
  36. 896To the last a Renegade.
  1. 897Fearfully the yell arose
  2. 898Of his followers, and his foes;
  3. 899These in joy, in fury those:
  4. 900Then again in conflict mixing,
  5. 901Clashing swords, and spears transfixing,
  6. 902Interchanged the blow and thrust,
  7. 903Hurling warriors in the dust.
  8. 904Street by street, and foot by foot,
  9. 905Still Minotti dares dispute
  10. 906The latest portion of the land
  11. 907Left beneath his high command;
  12. 908With him, aiding heart and hand,
  13. 909The remnant of his gallant band.
  14. 910Still the church is tenable,
  15. 911Whence issued late the fated ball
  16. 912That half avenged the city's fall,
  17. 913When Alp, her fierce assailant, fell:
  18. 914Thither bending sternly back,
  19. 915They leave before a bloody track;
  20. 916And, with their faces to the foe,
  21. 917Dealing wounds with every blow,
  22. 918The chief, and his retreating train,
  23. 919Join to those within the fane;
  24. 920There they yet may breathe awhile,
  25. 921Sheltered by the massy pile.
  1. 922Brief breathing-time! the turbaned host,
  2. 923With added ranks and raging boast,
  3. 924Press onwards with such strength and heat,
  4. 925Their numbers balk their own retreat;
  5. 926For narrow the way that led to the spot
  6. 927Where still the Christians yielded not;
  7. 928And the foremost, if fearful, may vainly try
  8. 929Through the massy column to turn and fly;
  9. 930They perforce must do or die.
  10. 931They die; but ere their eyes could close,
  11. 932Avengers o'er their bodies rose;
  12. 933Fresh and furious, fast they fill
  13. 934The ranks unthinned, though slaughtered still;
  14. 935And faint the weary Christians wax
  15. 936Before the still renewed attacks:
  16. 937And now the Othmans gain the gate;
  17. 938Still resists its iron weight,
  18. 939And still, all deadly aimed and hot,
  19. 940From every crevice comes the shot;
  20. 941From every shattered window pour
  21. 942The volleys of the sulphurous shower:
  22. 943But the portal wavering grows and weak--
  23. 944The iron yields, the hinges creak--
  24. 945It bends--it falls--and all is o'er;
  25. 946Lost Corinth may resist no more!
  1. 947Darkly, sternly, and all alone,
  2. 948Minotti stood o'er the altar stone:
  3. 949Madonna's face upon him shone,
  4. 950Painted in heavenly hues above,
  5. 951With eyes of light and looks of love;
  6. 952And placed upon that holy shrine
  7. 953To fix our thoughts on things divine,
  8. 954When pictured there, we kneeling see
  9. 955Her, and the boy-God on her knee,
  10. 956Smiling sweetly on each prayer
  11. 957To Heaven, as if to waft it there.
  12. 958Still she smiled; even now she smiles,
  13. 959Though slaughter streams along her aisles:
  14. 960Minotti lifted his agéd eye,
  15. 961And made the sign of a cross with a sigh,
  16. 962Then seized a torch which blazed thereby;
  17. 963And still he stood, while with steel and flame,
  18. 964Inward and onward the Mussulman came.
  1. 965The vaults beneath the mosaic stone
  2. 966Contained the dead of ages gone;
  3. 967Their names were on the graven floor,
  4. 968But now illegible with gore;
  5. 969The carvéd crests, and curious hues
  6. 970The varied marble's veins diffuse,
  7. 971Were smeared, and slippery--stained, and strown
  8. 972With broken swords, and helms o'erthrown:
  9. 973There were dead above, and the dead below
  10. 974Lay cold in many a coffined row;
  11. 975You might see them piled in sable state,
  12. 976By a pale light through a gloomy grate;
  13. 977But War had entered their dark caves,
  14. 978And stored along the vaulted graves
  15. 979Her sulphurous treasures, thickly spread
  16. 980In masses by the fleshless dead:
  17. 981Here, throughout the siege, had been
  18. 982The Christians' chiefest magazine;
  19. 983To these a late formed train now led,
  20. 984Minotti's last and stern resource
  21. 985Against the foe's o'erwhelming force.
  1. 986The foe came on, and few remain
  2. 987To strive, and those must strive in vain:
  3. 988For lack of further lives, to slake
  4. 989The thirst of vengeance now awake,
  5. 990With barbarous blows they gash the dead,
  6. 991And lop the already lifeless head,
  7. 992And fell the statues from their niche,
  8. 993And spoil the shrines of offerings rich,
  9. 994And from each other's rude hands wrest
  10. 995The silver vessels Saints had blessed.
  11. 996To the high altar on they go;
  12. 997Oh, but it made a glorious show!
  13. 998On its table still behold
  14. 999The cup of consecrated gold;
  15. 1000Massy and deep, a glittering prize,
  16. 1001Brightly it sparkles to plunderers' eyes:
  17. 1002That morn it held the holy wine,
  18. 1003Converted by Christ to his blood so divine,
  19. 1004Which his worshippers drank at the break of day,
  20. 1005To shrive their souls ere they joined in the fray.
  21. 1006Still a few drops within it lay;
  22. 1007And round the sacred table glow
  23. 1008Twelve lofty lamps, in splendid row,
  24. 1009From the purest metal cast;
  25. 1010A spoil--the richest, and the last.
  1. 1011So near they came, the nearest stretched
  2. 1012To grasp the spoil he almost reached
  3. 1013When old Minotti's hand
  4. 1014Touched with the torch the train--
  5. 1015'Tis fired!
  6. 1016Spire, vaults, the shrine, the spoil, the slain,
  7. 1017The turbaned victors, the Christian band,
  8. 1018All that of living or dead remain,
  9. 1019Hurled on high with the shivered fane,
  10. 1020In one wild roar expired!
  11. 1021The shattered town--the walls thrown down--
  12. 1022The waves a moment backward bent--
  13. 1023The hills that shake, although unrent,
  14. 1024As if an Earthquake passed--
  15. 1025The thousand shapeless things all driven
  16. 1026In cloud and flame athwart the heaven,
  17. 1027By that tremendous blast--
  18. 1028Proclaimed the desperate conflict o'er
  19. 1029On that too long afflicted shore:
  20. 1030Up to the sky like rockets go
  21. 1031All that mingled there below:
  22. 1032Many a tall and goodly man,
  23. 1033Scorched and shrivelled to a span,
  24. 1034When he fell to earth again
  25. 1035Like a cinder strewed the plain:
  26. 1036Down the ashes shower like rain;
  27. 1037Some fell in the gulf, which received the sprinkles
  28. 1038With a thousand circling wrinkles;
  29. 1039Some fell on the shore, but, far away,
  30. 1040Scattered o'er the isthmus lay;
  31. 1041Christian or Moslem, which be they?
  32. 1042Let their mothers see and say!
  33. 1043When in cradled rest they lay,
  34. 1044And each nursing mother smiled
  35. 1045On the sweet sleep of her child,
  36. 1046Little deemed she such a day
  37. 1047Would rend those tender limbs away.
  38. 1048Not the matrons that them bore
  39. 1049Could discern their offspring more;
  40. 1050That one moment left no trace
  41. 1051More of human form or face
  42. 1052Save a scattered scalp or bone:
  43. 1053And down came blazing rafters, strown
  44. 1054Around, and many a falling stone,
  45. 1055Deeply dinted in the clay,
  46. 1056All blackened there and reeking lay.
  47. 1057All the living things that heard
  48. 1058The deadly earth-shock disappeared:
  49. 1059The wild birds flew; the wild dogs fled,
  50. 1060And howling left the unburied dead;
  51. 1061The camels from their keepers broke;
  52. 1062The distant steer forsook the yoke--
  53. 1063The nearer steed plunged o'er the plain,
  54. 1064And burst his girth, and tore his rein;
  55. 1065The bull-frog's note, from out the marsh,
  56. 1066Deep-mouthed arose, and doubly harsh;
  57. 1067The wolves yelled on the caverned hill
  58. 1068Where Echo rolled in thunder still;
  59. 1069The jackal's troop, in gathered cry,
  60. 1070Bayed from afar complainingly,
  61. 1071With a mixed and mournful sound,
  62. 1072Like crying babe, and beaten hound:
  63. 1073With sudden wing, and ruffled breast,
  64. 1074The eagle left his rocky nest,
  65. 1075And mounted nearer to the sun,
  66. 1076The clouds beneath him seemed so dun;
  67. 1077Their smoke assailed his startled beak,
  68. 1078And made him higher soar and shriek--
  69. 1079Thus was Corinth lost and won!