1. [Compare the lines entitled "Belshazzar" (vide post, p. 421), and Don Juan, Canto III. stanza lxv.] I. [It was not in his youth, but in extreme old age, that Daniel interpreted the "writing on the wall."] WERE MY BOSOM AS FALSE AS THOU DEEM'ST IT TO BE. 399 SUN OF THE SLEEPLESS! SUN of the sleepless! melancholy star! WERE MY BOSOM AS FALSE AS THOU WERE my I. bosom as false as thou deem'st it to be, I need not have wandered from far Galilee ; It was but abjuring my creed to efface The curse which, thou say'st, is the crime of my race. II. If the bad never triumph, then God is with thee! If the Exile on earth is an Outcast on high, III. I have lost for that faith more than thou canst bestow, As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know; In his hand is my heart and my hope-and in thine The land and the life which for him I resign. Seaham, 1815. HEROD'S LAMENT FOR MARIAMNE.1 I. OH, Mariamne! now for thee The heart for which thou bled'st is bleeding; And wild Remorse to rage succeeding." Oh, Mariamne! where art thou? iii. Thou canst not hear my bitter pleading: II. And is she dead?-and did they dare Obey my Frenzy's jealous raving? iv. The sword that smote her 's o'er me waving.—— But thou art cold, my murdered Love! i. And what was rage is agony.-[MS. erased.] ii. And deep Remorse -[MS.] --[MS.] iii. And what am I thy tyrant pleading.—[MS. erased.] Obey my jealous Frenzy's raving.—[MS.] v. But yet in death my soul enslaving.—[MS. erased.] 1. [Mariamne, the wife of Herod the Great, falling_under_the suspicion of infidelity, was put to death by his order. Ever after, Herod was haunted by the image of the murdered Mariamne, until disorder of the mind brought on disorder of body, which led to temporary derangement. See History of the Jews, by H. H. Milman, 1878, pp. 236, 237. See, too, Voltaire's drama, Mariamne, passim. Nathan, wishing "to be favoured with so many lines pathetic, some playful, others martial, etc. one evening. . . unfortunately (while absorbed for a moment in worldly affairs) requested so many dull lines--meaning plaintive." Byron instantly caught at the expression, and exclaimed, "Well, Nathan! you have at length set me an easy task," and before parting presented him with "these beautifully pathetic lines, saying, 'Here, Nathan, I think you will find these dull enough.'"-Fugitive Pieces, 1829, p. 51.] For he who soars alone above, And leaves my soul unworthy saving. III. She's gone, who shared my diadem; And I have earned those tortures well,i. Jan. 15, 1815. ON THE DAY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY TITUS. I. FROM the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome,ii. iii. I beheld thee, oh Sion! when rendered to Rome : 'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fall Flashed back on the last glance I gave to thy wall. II. iv. I looked for thy temple-I looked for my home, i. Oh I have earned ii. iii. -[MS.] that looks o'er thy once holy dome.—[MS.] o'er thy once holy wall I beheld thee O Sion the day of thy fall.—[MS. erased.] iv. And forgot in their ruin VOL. III. -[MS. erased.] 2 D |