But Inez was so anxious, and so clear Of sight, that I must think, on this occasion, For leaving Juan to this new temptation; It was upon a day, a summer's day; Summer's indeed a very dangerous season, And so is spring about the end of May; The sun, no doubt, is the prevailing reason; But whatsoe'er the cause is, one may say, And stand convicted of more truth than treason, That there are months which nature grows more merry in,— March has its hares, and May must have its heroine. 'Twas on the sixth of June, about the hour Of half-past six-perhaps still nearer seven---When Julia sate within as pretty a bower As e'er held houri in that heathenish heaven Described by Mahomet, and Anacreon Moore, (7) To whom the lyre and laurels have been given, (4) In the MS. "A real wittol always is suspicious, But always also hunts in the wrong place."-L. E. (5) In the MS. "Change horses every hour, from night till noon."-L. E. (6) In the MS.- .. Except the promises of true theology."-L. E. (7) "Oh, Susan! I've said, in the moments of mirth, What's devotion to thee or to me ? With all the trophies of triumphant song— She sate, but not alone; I know not well People should hold their tongues in any case; No matter how or why the thing befell, But there were she and Juan, face to faceWhen two such faces are so, 't would be wise, But very difficult, to shut their eyes. CVI. How beautiful she look'd! her conscious heart Glow'd in her cheek, and yet she felt no wrong. Oh Love! how perfect is thy mystic art, Strengthening the weak, and trampling on the strong: How self-deceitful is the sagest part Of mortals whom thy lure hath led along- CVII. She thought of her own strength, and Juan's youth, And then of Don Alfonso's fifty years: I wish these last had not occurr'd, in sooth, And through all climes, the snowy and the sunny, CVIII. When people say, "I've told you fifty times," CIX. Julia had honour, virtue, truth, and love, She never would disgrace the ring she wore, CX. Unconsciously she lean'd upon the other, Which play'd within the tangles of her hair; And to contend with thoughts she could not smother She seem'd, by the distraction of her air. 'Twas surely very wrong in Juan's mother To leave together this imprudent pair; (2) (1) In the MS. "She stood on guilt's steep brink, in all the sense And full security of innocence."—L. E. (2) In the MS. To leave these two young people then and there."—L. E. (3) "I am always most religious upon a sunshiny day; as She, who for many years had watch'd her son so- The hand which still held Juan's, by degrees CXII. I cannot know what Juan thought of this, And then, abash'd at its own joy, withdrew Love is so very timid when 'tis new: She blush'd, and frown'd not, but she strove to speak, And held her tongue, her voice was grown so weak CXIII. The sun set, and up rose the yellow moon: Sees half the business in a wicked way CXIV. There is a dangerous silence in that hour, Of calling wholly back its self-control; CXV. And Julia sate with Juan, half embraced CXVI. Oh Plato! Plato! you have paved the way, if there was some association between an internal approac to greater light and purity, and the kindler of this dark la tern of our external existence. The night is also a religious concern; and even more so-when I viewed the moon an stars through Herschel's telescope, and saw that they wer worlds." B. Diary, 1821.-L. E. A charlatan, a coxcomb-and have been, At best, no better than a go-between. (1) CXVII. And Julia's voice was lost, except in sighs, Not that remorse did not oppose temptation; A little still she strove, and much repented, And whispering "I will ne'er consent"-consented. CXVIII. Tis said that Xerxes offer'd a reward To those who could invent him a new pleasure: Methinks, the requisition's rather hard, And must have cost his majesty a treasure: O Pleasure! you are indeed a pleasant thing, Of reformation, ere the year run out, And mean, next winter, to be quite reclaim'd. CXX. Here my chaste Muse a liberty must take Start not! still chaster reader-she'll be nice hence- In the design, and as I have a high sense CXXI. This license is to hope the reader will For want of facts would all be thrown away), In sight, that several months have pass'd; we'll say Twas in November, but I'm not so sure About the day-the era's more obscure. CXXII. We'll talk of that anon.-"Tis sweet to hear By distance mellow'd, o'er the waters sweep; (1) "For my part, I must confess that I bave, though a tolerably good philosopher, but a very low opinion of Platonic love; for which reason I have thought it necessary to give my fair readers a caution against it, having occasionally, to my great concern, observed the waist of a Platonist swell to a roundness which is inconsistent with that philosophy." Steele.-L.E. From leaf to leaf; 'tis sweet to view on high The rainbow, based on ocean, span the sky. CXXIII. "Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home; 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark Our coming, and look brighter when we come; (2) "Tis sweet to be awaken'd by the lark, Or lull'd by falling waters; sweet the hum Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes Sweet to the father is his first-born's birth, Man's a phenomenon, one knows not what, But whether glory, power, or love, or treasure, (1) The "Safety Lamp," after long researches and innumerable experiments, was at length invented by the late Sir Humphry Davy, P. R. S., in 1815, and has, no doubt, already preserved thousands of miners from the dangers of the firedamp.-L. E. (2) Jackson's Account of Tombuctoo, the great emporium of Central Africa.-Narrative of Robert Adams, a Sailor.Dr. Leyden's Discoveries in Africa, etc. etc.-L. E. (3) Sir Edward Parry's three expeditions.-Captain Ross's voyages of discovery, etc. etc.-L. E. (4) In the MS. "Not only pleasure 's sin, but sin 's a pleasure."—L. E. (5) In the MS. "And lose in shining snow their summits blue."-L. E. (6) In the MS.— "'T was midnight-dark and sombre was the night; No moon, no stars," etc.-L. E. (7) In the MS. "I'm fond of fire, and crickets, and all that, And supper, punch, ghost-stories, and such chat."—L. E. The path is through perplexing ways, and when The goal is gain'd, we die, you know-and thenCXXXIV. What then?-I do not know, no more do youAnd so good night.-Return we to our story: "Twas in November, when fine days are few, And the far mountains wax a little hoary, And clap a white cape on their mantles blue; (5) And the sea dashes round the promontory, And the loud breaker boils against the rock, And sober suns must set at five o'clock. By this time Don Alphonso was arrived, By stealth her husband's temples to encumber: (8) "Lady Mary W. Montague was an extraordinary woman: she could translate Epictetus, and yet write a song worthy of Aristippus-the lines, "And when the long hours of the public are past, And we meet, with champagne and a chicken, at least, May every fond pleasure that moment endear! Be banish'd afar both discretion and fear!' etc. etc. There, Mr. Bowles!-what say you to such a supper with such a woman ?-and her own description too? It appears to me that this stanza contains the puree of the whole phi losophy of Epicurus." Lord B. to Mr. Bowles.-L. E. (9) "To-night, as Countess Guiccioli observed me poring over Don Juan, she stumbled by mere chance on the 137th stanza of the First Canto, and asked me what it meant.! told her, 'Nothing, but your husband is coming.' As said this in Italian with some emphasis, she started up in a fright, and said, 'Oh, my God, is he coming?' thinking t was her own. You may suppose we laughed when she found out the mistake. You will be amused, as I was;-it happened not three hours ago." B. Letters, Nov. 8, 1819 -L. E. Under the bed they search'd, and there they found- Had signs or footmarks, but the earth said nought; And seems to me almost a sort of blunder, CXLV. During this inquisition, Julia's tongue (2) 607 Was not asleep-"Yes! search and search," she "Insult on insult heap, and wrong on wrong! It was for this that I became a bride! A husband like Alfonso at my side; CXLVI. [cried, "Yes, Don Alfonso! husband now no more, Is't wise or fitting, causeless to explore For facts agaiast a virtuous woman's fame? Ungrateful, perjured, barbarous Don Alfonso, How dare you think your lady would go on so? CXLVII. "Is it for this I have disdain'd to hold The common privileges of my sex? That I have chosen a confessor so old And deaf, that any other it would vex, And never once he has had cause to scold, But found my very innocence perplex So much, he always doubted I was marriedHow sorry you will be when I've miscarried! CXLVIII. "Was it for this that no Cortejo (3) e'er I yet have chosen from out the youth of Seville? Is it for this I scarce went any where, Except to bull-fights, mass, play, rout, and revel? Is it for this, whate'er my suitors were, I favour'd none-nay, was almost uncivil? "Did not the Italian musico Cazzani Sing at my heart six months at least in vain? Did not his countryman, Count Corniani, Call me the only virtuous wife in Spain? The Count Strongstroganoff I put in pain, "Have I not had two bishops at my feet? The Duke of Ichar, and Don Fernan Nunez, I wonder in what quarter now the moon is: (4) Donna Julia here made a mistake. Count O'Reilly did not take Algiers-but Algiers very nearly took him; he and his army and fleet retreated with great loss, and not much credit, from before that city, in the year 1775. (5) "This sneer at the titles of some of what were called Hill.-L. E. the Union Peers of Ireland is capital." |