The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. 1. Poetry
Chapter 5
To this is join'd the sacred song, The royal minstrel's hallow'd strain; Though _he_ who hears the _music_ long, [xv] Will _never_ wish to _hear again_.
20.
Our choir would scarcely be excus'd, E'en as a band of raw beginners; All mercy, now, must be refus'd [xvi] To such a set of croaking sinners.
21.
If David, when his toils were ended, Had heard these blockheads sing before him, To us his psalms had ne'er descended,-- In furious mood he would have tore 'em.
22.
The luckless Israelites, when taken By some inhuman tyrant's order, Were ask'd to sing, by joy forsaken, On Babylonian river's border.
23.
Oh! had they sung in notes like these [xvii] Inspir'd by stratagem or fear, They might have set their hearts at ease, The devil a soul had stay'd to hear.
24.
But if I scribble longer now, [xviii] The deuce a soul will _stay to read_; My pen is blunt, my ink is low; 'Tis almost time to _stop_, _indeed_.
25.
Therefore, farewell, old _Granta's_ spires! No more, like _Cleofas_, I fly; No more thy theme my Muse inspires: The reader's tir'd, and so am I.
October 28, 1806.
[Footnote 1: The motto was prefixed in 'Hours of Idleness'.
"Fight with silver spears" ('i.e'. with bribes), "and them shall prevail in all things."]
[Footnote 2: The 'Diable Boiteux' of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places Don Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the houses for inspection. [Don Cleofas, clinging to the cloak of Asmodeus, is carried through the air to the summit of S. Salvador.]
[Footnote 3: On the death of Pitt, in January, 1806, Lord Henry Petty beat Lord Palmerston in the contest for the representation of the University of Cambridge in Parliament.]
[Footnote 4: Probably Lord Henry Petty. See variant iii.]
[Footnote 5: Scale's publication on Greek Metres displays considerable talent and ingenuity, but, as might be expected in so difficult a work, is not remarkable for accuracy. ('An Analysis of the Greek Metres; for the use of students at the University of Cambridge'. By John Barlow Seale (1764), 8vo. A fifth edition was issued in 1807.)]
[Footnote 6. The Latin of the schools is of the 'canine species', and not very intelligible.]
[Footnote 7: The discovery of Pythagoras, that the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the squares of the other two sides of a right-angled triangle.]
[Footnote 8: On a saint's day the students wear surplices in chapel.]
[Footnote i: 'And place it'. [4to]]
[Footnote ii: 'The price of hireling'. [4to]]
[Footnote iii: 'Who canvass now'. [4to]]
[Footnote iv:
'One on his power and place depends, The other on--the Lord knows what! Each to some eloquence pretends, But neither will convince by that.
The first, indeed, may not demur; Fellows are sage reflecting men, And know'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
[Footnote v:
'And therefore smiles at his'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
[Footnote vi:
'Now from Corruption's shameless scene'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
[Footnote vii: 'And view unseen'. [4to]]
[Footnote viii: 'and early rises'. [4to]]
[Footnote ix: 'And all the' [4to]]
[Footnote x: 'And agitates'. [4to]]
[Footnote xi: 'And robs himself of many a meal'. [4to]]
[Footnote xii:
'But harmless are these occupations Which'.
[4to]]
[Footnote xiii:
'When Drunkenness and dice unite. And every sense'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
[Footnote xiv: 'And exultation'. [4to]]
[Footnote xv: 'But he'. [4to]]
[Footnote xvi: 'But mercy'. [4to]]
[Footnote xvii: 'But had they sung'. [4to]]
[Footnote xviii:
'But if I write much longer now'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
TO THE SIGHING STREPHON. [1]
1.
Your pardon, my friend, If my rhymes did offend, Your pardon, a thousand times o'er; From friendship I strove, Your pangs to remove, But, I swear, I will do so no more.
2.
Since your _beautiful_ maid, Your flame has repaid, No more I your folly regret; She's now most divine, And I bow at the shrine, Of this quickly reformèd coquette.
3.
Yet still, I must own, [i] I should never have known, From _your verses_, what else she deserv'd; Your pain seem'd so great, I pitied your fate, As your fair was so dev'lish reserv'd.
4.
Since the balm-breathing kiss [ii] Of this magical Miss, Can such wonderful transports produce; [iii] Since the _"world you forget, When your lips once have met,"_ My counsel will get but abuse.
5.
You say, "When I rove," "I know nothing of love;" Tis true, I am given to range; If I rightly remember, _I've lov'd_ a good number; [iv] Yet there's pleasure, at least, in a change.
6.
I will not advance, [v] By the rules of romance, To humour a whimsical fair; Though a smile may delight, Yet a _frown_ will _affright,_ [vi] Or drive me to dreadful despair.
7.
While my blood is thus warm, I ne'er shall reform, To mix in the Platonists' school; Of this I am sure, Was my Passion so pure, Thy _Mistress_ would think me a fool. [vii]
8 [viii]
And if I should shun, Every _woman_ for _one,_ Whose _image_ must fill my whole breast; Whom I must _prefer,_ And _sigh_ but for _her,_ What an _insult_ 'twould be to the _rest!_
9.
Now Strephon, good-bye; I cannot deny, Your _passion_ appears most _absurd;_ Such _love_ as you plead, Is _pure_ love, indeed, For it _only_ consists in the _word_.
[Footnote 1: The letters "J. M. B. P." are added, in a lady's hand, in the annotated copy of 'P. on V. Occasions', p. 17 (British Museum).]
[Footnote i: 'But still'. [4to]]
[Footnote ii: 'But since the chaste kiss.' [4to]]
[Footnote iii: 'Such wonderful.' [4to]]
[Footnote iv:
'I've kiss'd a good number. But-----'
[4to]]
[Footnote v:
'I ne'er will advance.'
[4to]]
[Footnote vi:
'Yet a frown won't affright.'
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions.']]
[Footnote vii:
'My mistress must think me.'
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions.']]
[Footnote viii:
'Though the kisses are sweet, Which voluptuously meet, Of kissing I ne'er was so fond, As to make me forget, Though our lips oft have met, That still there was something beyond.'
[4to]
THE CORNELIAN. [1]
1.
No specious splendour of this stone Endears it to my memory ever; With lustre _only once_ it shone, And blushes modest as the giver. [i]
2.
Some, who can sneer at friendship's ties, Have, for my weakness, oft reprov'd me; Yet still the simple gift I prize, For I am sure, the giver lov'd me.
3.
He offer'd it with downcast look, As _fearful_ that I might refuse it; I told him, when the gift I took, My _only fear_ should be, to lose it.
4.
This pledge attentively I view'd, And _sparkling_ as I held it near, Methought one drop the stone bedew'd, And, ever since, _I've lov'd a tear._
5.
Still, to adorn his humble youth, Nor wealth nor birth their treasures yield; But he, who seeks the flowers of truth, Must quit the garden, for the field.
6.
'Tis not the plant uprear'd in sloth, Which beauty shews, and sheds perfume; The flowers, which yield the most of both, In Nature's wild luxuriance bloom.
7.
Had Fortune aided Nature's care, For once forgetting to be blind, _His_ would have been an ample share, If well proportioned to his mind.
8.
But had the Goddess clearly seen, His form had fix'd her fickle breast; _Her_ countless hoards would _his_ have been, And none remain'd to give the rest.
[Footnote 1: The cornelian was a present from his friend Edleston, a Cambridge chorister, afterwards a clerk in a mercantile house in London. Edleston died of consumption, May 11, 1811. (See letter from Byron to Miss Pigot, October 28, 1811.) Their acquaintance began by Byron saving him from drowning. (MS. note by the Rev. W. Harness.)]
[Footnote i: 'But blushes modest'. [4to]]
TO M----[i]
1.
Oh! did those eyes, instead of fire, With bright, but mild affection shine: Though they might kindle less desire, Love, more than mortal, would be thine.
2.
For thou art form'd so heavenly fair, _Howe'er_ those orbs _may_ wildly beam, We must _admire,_ but still despair; That fatal glance forbids esteem.
3.
When Nature stamp'd thy beauteous birth, So much perfection in thee shone, She fear'd that, too divine for earth, The skies might claim thee for their own.
4.
Therefore, to guard her dearest work, Lest angels might dispute the prize, She bade a secret lightning lurk, Within those once celestial eyes.
5.
These might the boldest Sylph appall, When gleaming with meridian blaze; Thy beauty must enrapture all; But who can dare thine ardent gaze?
6.
'Tis said that Berenice's hair, In stars adorns the vault of heaven; But they would ne'er permit _thee_ there, _Thou_ wouldst so far outshine the seven.
7.
For did those eyes as planets roll, Thy sister-lights would scarce appear: E'en suns, which systems now controul, Would twinkle dimly through their sphere. [1]
Friday, November 7, 1806
[Footnote 1:
"Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do intreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return."
Shakespeare.]
[Footnote i: 'To A----'. [4to] ]
LINES ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY.[1]
[As the author was discharging his Pistols in a Garden, Two Ladies passing near the spot were alarmed by the sound of a Bullet hissing near them, to one of whom the following stanzas were addressed the next morning.] [2]
1.
Doubtless, sweet girl! the hissing lead, Wafting destruction o'er thy charms [i] And hurtling o'er [3] thy lovely head, Has fill'd that breast with fond alarms.
2.
Surely some envious Demon's force, Vex'd to behold such beauty here, Impell'd the bullet's viewless course, Diverted from its first career.
3.
Yes! in that nearly fatal hour, The ball obey'd some hell-born guide; But Heaven, with interposing power, In pity turn'd the death aside.
4.
Yet, as perchance one trembling tear Upon that thrilling bosom fell; Which _I_, th' unconscious cause of fear, Extracted from its glistening cell;--
5.
Say, what dire penance can atone For such an outrage, done to thee? Arraign'd before thy beauty's throne, What punishment wilt thou decree?
6.
Might I perform the Judge's part, The sentence I should scarce deplore; It only would restore a heart, Which but belong'd to _thee_ before.
7.
The least atonement I can make Is to become no longer free; Henceforth, I breathe but for thy sake, Thou shalt be _all in all_ to me.
8.
But thou, perhaps, may'st now reject Such expiation of my guilt; Come then--some other mode elect? Let it be death--or what thou wilt.
9.
Choose, then, relentless! and I swear Nought shall thy dread decree prevent; Yet hold--one little word forbear! Let it be aught but banishment.
[Footnote 1: This title first appeared in "Contents" to 'P. on V. Occasions'.]
[Footnote 2: The occurrence took place at Southwell, and the beautiful lady to whom the lines were addressed was Miss Houson, who is also commemorated in the verses "To a Vain Lady" and "To Anne." She was the daughter of the Rev. Henry Houson of Southwell, and married the Rev. Luke Jackson. She died on Christmas Day, 1821, and her monument may be seen in Hucknall Torkard Church.]
[Footnote 3: This word is used by Gray in his poem to the Fatal Sisters:--
"Iron-sleet of arrowy shower Hurtles in the darken'd air."]
[Footnote i: 'near thy charms'. [4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]
TRANSLATION FROM CATULLUS.
AD LESBIAM.
Equal to Jove that youth must be-- _Greater_ than Jove he seems to me-- Who, free from Jealousy's alarms, Securely views thy matchless charms; That cheek, which ever dimpling glows, That mouth, from whence such music flows, To him, alike, are always known, Reserv'd for him, and him alone. Ah! Lesbia! though 'tis death to me, I cannot choose but look on thee; But, at the sight, my senses fly, I needs must gaze, but, gazing, die; Whilst trembling with a thousand fears, Parch'd to the throat my tongue adheres, My pulse beats quick, my breath heaves short, My limbs deny their slight support; Cold dews my pallid face o'erspread, With deadly languor droops my head, My ears with tingling echoes ring, And Life itself is on the wing; My eyes refuse the cheering light, Their orbs are veil'd in starless night: Such pangs my nature sinks beneath, And feels a temporary death.
TRANSLATION OF THE EPITAPH ON VIRGIL AND TIBULLUS, BY DOMITIUS MARSUS.
He who, sublime, in epic numbers roll'd, And he who struck the softer lyre of Love, By Death's _unequal_[1] hand alike controul'd, Fit comrades in Elysian regions move!
[Footnote: 1. The hand of Death is said to be unjust or unequal, as Virgil was considerably older than Tibullus at his decease.]
IMITATION OF TIBULLUS.
SULPICIA AD CERINTHUM (LIB. QUART.).
Cruel Cerinthus! does the fell disease [i] Which racks my breast your fickle bosom please? Alas! I wish'd but to o'ercome the pain, That I might live for Love and you again; But, now, I scarcely shall bewail my fate: By Death alone I can avoid your hate.
[Footnote i:
'does this fell disease'.
[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions.]
TRANSLATION FROM CATULLUS.
LUGETE VENERES CUPIDINESQUE (CARM. III.) [i]
Ye Cupids, droop each little head, Nor let your wings with joy be spread, My Lesbia's favourite bird is dead, Whom dearer than her eyes she lov'd: [ii] For he was gentle, and so true, Obedient to her call he flew, No fear, no wild alarm he knew, But lightly o'er her bosom mov'd:
And softly fluttering here and there, He never sought to cleave the air, He chirrup'd oft, and, free from care, [iii] Tun'd to her ear his grateful strain. Now having pass'd the gloomy bourn, [iv] From whence he never can return, His death, and Lesbia's grief I mourn, Who sighs, alas! but sighs in vain.
Oh! curst be thou, devouring grave! Whose jaws eternal victims crave, From whom no earthly power can save, For thou hast ta'en the bird away: From thee my Lesbia's eyes o'erflow, Her swollen cheeks with weeping glow; Thou art the cause of all her woe, Receptacle of life's decay.
[Footnote i:
_Luctus De Morte Passeris_.
[4to. _P. on V. Occasions_.] ]
[Footnote ii: _Which dearer_. [4to] ]
[Footnote iii: _But chirrup'd_. [4to] ]
[Footnote iv: _But now he's pass'd_. [4to] ]
IMITATED FROM CATULLUS. [1]
TO ELLEN. [i]
Oh! might I kiss those eyes of fire, A million scarce would quench desire; Still would I steep my lips in bliss, And dwell an age on every kiss; Nor then my soul should sated be, Still would I kiss and cling to thee: Nought should my kiss from thine dissever, Still would we kiss and kiss for ever; E'en though the numbers did exceed [ii] The yellow harvest's countless seed; To part would be a vain endeavour: Could I desist?--ah! never--never.
November 16, 1806.
[Footnote 1: From a note in Byron's copy of Catullus (now in the possession of Mr. Murray), it is evident that these lines are based on Carm. xlviii., 'Mellitos oculos tuos, Juventi'.]
[Footnote i: 'To Anna'. [4to] ]
[Footnote ii: 'E'en though the number'. [4to. 'Three first Editions'.]]
* * * * * * * *
POEMS ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS
TO M. S. G.
1.
Whene'er I view those lips of thine, Their hue invites my fervent kiss; Yet, I forego that bliss divine, Alas! it were--unhallow'd bliss.
2.
Whene'er I dream of that pure breast, How could I dwell upon its snows! Yet, is the daring wish represt, For that,--would banish its repose.
3.
A glance from thy soul-searching eye Can raise with hope, depress with fear; Yet, I conceal my love,--and why? I would not force a painful tear.
4.
I ne'er have told my love, yet thou Hast seen my ardent flame too well; And shall I plead my passion now, To make thy bosom's heaven a hell?
5.
No! for thou never canst be mine, United by the priest's decree: By any ties but those divine, Mine, my belov'd, thou ne'er shalt be.
6.
Then let the secret fire consume, Let it consume, thou shalt not know: With joy I court a certain doom, Rather than spread its guilty glow.
7.
I will not ease my tortur'd heart, By driving dove-ey'd peace from thine; Rather than such a sting impart, Each thought presumptuous I resign.
8.
Yes! yield those lips, for which I'd brave More than I here shall dare to tell; Thy innocence and mine to save,-- I bid thee now a last farewell.
9.
Yes! yield that breast, to seek despair And hope no more thy soft embrace; Which to obtain, my soul would dare, All, all reproach, but thy disgrace.
10.
At least from guilt shall thou be free, No matron shall thy shame reprove; Though cureless pangs may prey on me, No martyr shall thou be to love.
STANZAS TO A LADY, WITH THE POEMS OF CAMOËNS. [1]
1.
This votive pledge of fond esteem, Perhaps, dear girl! for me thou'lt prize; It sings of Love's enchanting dream, A theme we never can despise.
2.
Who blames it but the envious fool, The old and disappointed maid? Or pupil of the prudish school, In single sorrow doom'd to fade?
3.
Then read, dear Girl! with feeling read, For thou wilt ne'er be one of those; To thee, in vain, I shall not plead In pity for the Poet's woes.
4.
He was, in sooth, a genuine Bard; His was no faint, fictitious flame: Like his, may Love be thy reward, But not thy hapless fate the same.
[Footnote: 1. Lord Strangford's 'Poems from the Portuguese by Luis de Camoëns' and "Little's" Poems are mentioned by Moore as having been Byron's favourite study at this time ('Life', P--39).]
TO M. S. G. [1]
1.
When I dream that you love me, you'll surely forgive; Extend not your anger to sleep; For in visions alone your affection can live,-- I rise, and it leaves me to weep.
2.
Then, Morpheus! envelop my faculties fast, Shed o'er me your languor benign; Should the dream of to-night but resemble the last, What rapture celestial is mine!
3.
They tell us that slumber, the sister of death, Mortality's emblem is given; To fate how I long to resign my frail breath, If this be a foretaste of Heaven!
4.
Ah! frown not, sweet Lady, unbend your soft brow, Nor deem me too happy in this; If I sin in my dream, I atone for it now, Thus doom'd, but to gaze upon bliss.
5.
Though in visions, sweet Lady, perhaps you may smile, Oh! think not my penance deficient! When dreams of your presence my slumbers beguile, To awake, will be torture sufficient.
[Footnote 1: "C. G. B. to E. P." 'MS. Newstead'.]
TRANSLATION FROM HORACE.
Justum et tenacem propositi virum.
HOR. 'Odes', iii. 3. I.
1.
The man of firm and noble soul No factious clamours can controul; No threat'ning tyrant's darkling brow Can swerve him from his just intent: Gales the warring waves which plough, By Auster on the billows spent, To curb the Adriatic main, Would awe his fix'd determined mind in vain.
2.
Aye, and the red right arm of Jove, Hurtling his lightnings from above, With all his terrors there unfurl'd, He would, unmov'd, unaw'd, behold; The flames of an expiring world, Again in crashing chaos roll'd, In vast promiscuous ruin hurl'd, Might light his glorious funeral pile: Still dauntless 'midst the wreck of earth he'd smile.
THE FIRST KISS OF LOVE.
[Greek:
Ha barbitos de chordais Er_ota mounon aechei. [1]
ANACREON ['Ode' 1].
1.
Away with your fictions of flimsy romance, Those tissues of falsehood which Folly has wove; [i] Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance, Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love.
2.
Ye rhymers, whose bosoms with fantasy glow, [ii] Whose pastoral passions are made for the grove; From what blest inspiration your sonnets would flow, [iii] Could you ever have tasted the first kiss of love.
3.
If Apollo should e'er his assistance refuse, Or the Nine be dispos'd from your service to rove, Invoke them no more, bid adieu to the Muse, And try the effect, of the first kiss of love.
4.
I hate you, ye cold compositions of art, Though prudes may condemn me, and bigots reprove; I court the effusions that spring from the heart, Which throbs, with delight, to the first kiss of love. [iv]
5.
Your shepherds, your flocks, those fantastical themes, [v] Perhaps may amuse, yet they never can move: Arcadia displays but a region of dreams; [vi] What are visions like these, to the first kiss of love?
6.
Oh! cease to affirm that man, since his birth, [vii] From Adam, till now, has with wretchedness strove; Some portion of Paradise still is on earth, And Eden revives, in the first kiss of love.
7.
When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past-- For years fleet away with the wings of the dove-- The dearest remembrance will still be the last, Our sweetest memorial, the first kiss of love.
December 23, 1806.
[Footnote 1: The motto was prefixed in 'Hours of Idleness'.]
[Footnote i:
'Moriah [A] those air dreams and types has o'er wove, ['MS. Newstead'.] 'Those tissues of fancy Moriah has wove,
'['P. on V. Occasions'.] ]
[Sub-Footnote A: Moriah is the "Goddess of Folly."]
[Footnote ii:
'Ye rhymers, who sing as if seated on snow.--'
['P. on V. Occasions'.] ]
[Footnote iii:
'With what blest inspiration.--'
['MS. P. on V. Occasions'.] ]
[Footnote iv:
'Which glows with delight at'.
['MS'.]]
[Footnote v:
'Your shepherds, your pipes'.
['MS. P. on V. Occasions'.]]
[Footnote vi:
'Arcadia yields but a legion of dreams'.
['MS'.]
[Footnote vii:
'that man from his birth'.
['MS. P. on V. Occasions'.]
CHILDISH RECOLLECTIONS. [1]
"I cannot but remember such things were, And were most dear to me."
'Macbeth' [2]
["That were most precious to me."
'Macbeth', act iv, sc. 3.]
When slow Disease, with all her host of Pains, [i] Chills the warm tide, which flows along the veins; When Health, affrighted, spreads her rosy wing, And flies with every changing gale of spring; Not to the aching frame alone confin'd, Unyielding pangs assail the drooping mind: What grisly forms, the spectre-train of woe, Bid shuddering Nature shrink beneath the blow, With Resignation wage relentless strife, While Hope retires appall'd, and clings to life. 10 Yet less the pang when, through the tedious hour, Remembrance sheds around her genial power, Calls back the vanish'd days to rapture given, When Love was bliss, and Beauty form'd our heaven; Or, dear to youth, pourtrays each childish scene, Those fairy bowers, where all in turn have been. As when, through clouds that pour the summer storm, The orb of day unveils his distant form, Gilds with faint beams the crystal dews of rain And dimly twinkles o'er the watery plain; 20 Thus, while the future dark and cheerless gleams, The Sun of Memory, glowing through my dreams, Though sunk the radiance of his former blaze, To scenes far distant points his paler rays, Still rules my senses with unbounded sway, The past confounding with the present day.