Blest by the tongues that charm'd my youthful ear, And unremember'd by the world beside. September 2, 1807. FRAGMENT. WRITTEN SHORTLY AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF MISS CHAWORTH.1 I. HILLS of Annesley, Bleak and Barren, Where my thoughtless Childhood stray'd, Howl above thy tufted Shade! 1. [Miss Chaworth was married to John Musters, Esq., in August, 1805. The stanzas were first published in Moore's Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, 1830, i. 56. (See, too, The Dream, st. ii. 1. 9.) The original MS. (which is in the possession of Mrs. Chaworth Musters) formerly belonged to Miss E. B. Pigot, according to whom they were written by Lord Byron in 1804." "We were reading Burns' Farewell to Ayrshire Scenes of woe and Scenes of pleasure when he said, 'I like that metre; let me try it,' and taking up a pencil, wrote those on the other side in an instant. I 2. Now no more, the Hours beguiling, Now no more my Mary smiling, Makes ye seem a Heaven to Me. 1805. REMEMBRANCE. 'Tis done!-I saw it in my dreams: My dawn of Life is overcast ; Love, Hope, and Joy, alike adieu ! Would I could add Remembrance too! 1806. [First published, 1832.] read them to Moore, and at his particular request I copied them for him."-E. B. Pigot, 1859. On the fly-leaf of the same volume (Poetry of Robert Burns, vol. iv. Third Edition, 1802), containing the Farewell to Ayrshire, Byron wrote in pencil the two stanzas "Oh! little lock of golden hue," in 1806 (vide post, p. 233). It may be noted that the verses quoted, though included until recently among his poems, were not written by Burns, but by Richard Gall, who died in 1801, aged 25.] TO A LADY WHO PRESENTED THE AUTHOR WITH THE VELVET BAND WHICH BOUND HER TRESSES. I. THIS Band, which bound thy yellow hair It claims my warmest, dearest care, Like relics left of saints above. 2. Oh! I will wear it next my heart; 'Twill bind my soul in bonds to thee: From me again 'twill ne'er depart, But mingle in the grave with me. 3. The dew I gather from thy lip Is not so dear to me as this; That I but for a moment sip, And banquet on a transient bliss: This will recall each youthful scene, i. E'en when our lives are on the wane; 1806. [First published, 1832.] i. -on a transient kiss.—[MS. Newstead.] TO A KNOT OF UNGENEROUS CRITICS.1 RAIL on, Rail on, ye heartless crew! And damn the verse you cannot feel. His will at least be her applause, Your prayer the gentle Power will spurn; Who joyful in the fond address Her favoured worshippers will bless: And lo! she holds a magic glass, Where Images reflected pass, 1. [From an autograph MS. at Newstead, now for the first time printed. 66 There can be little doubt that these verses were called forth by the criticisms passed on the "Fugitive Pieces" by certain ladies of Southwell, concerning whom, Byron wrote to Mr. Pigot (Jan. 13, 1807), on sending him an early copy of the Poems, That unlucky poem to my poor Mary has been the cause of some animadversion from ladies in years. I have not printed it in this collection in consequence of my being pronounced a most profligate sinner, in short a‘young Moore.”—Life, p. 41.] Bent on your knees the Boon receive→ The glittering gift was made for you, A Mask each canker'd brow shall hide, "There is the Maid's perverted name, Threatening-but ere it spreads, retire.” Says Truth "Up Virgins, do not fear! "The Comet rolls its Influence here; ""Tis Scandal's Mirror you perceive, "These dazzling Meteors but deceive"Approach and touch-Nay do not turn, "It blazes there, but will not burn."At once the shivering Mirror flies, Teeming no more with varnished Lies; The baffled friends of Fiction start, Too late desiring to departTruth poising high Ithuriel's spear Bids every Fiend unmask'd appear, The vizard tears from every face, And dooms them to a dire disgrace. For e'er they compass their escape, Each takes perforce a native shape |