16.

There dost thou glide from fair to fair,

Still simpering on with eager haste, As flies along the gay parterre,

That taint the flowers they scarcely taste.

17.

But say, what nymph will prize the flame

Which seems, as marshy vapours move,

To flit along from dame to dame,

An ignis-fatuus gleam of love?

18.

What friend for thee, howe'er inclin'd

Will deign to own a kindred care? Who will debase his manly mind,

For friendship every fool may share?

19.

In time forbear; amidst the throng
No more so base a thing be seen;

No more so idly pass along;

Be something, any thing, but-mean.

August 20th, 1808. [First published, 1809.]

LINES INSCRIBED UPON A CUP FORMED FROM A SKULL.1

I.

START not-nor deem my spirit fled

In me behold the only skull,

From which, unlike a living head,
Whatever flows is never dull.

2.

I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:
I died let earth my bones resign;
Fill up thou canst not injure me;

The worm hath fouler lips than thine.

3.

Better to hold the sparkling grape,

Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;

And circle in the goblet's shape

The drink of Gods, than reptile's food.

1. [Byron gave Medwin the following account of this cup: "The gardener in digging [discovered] a skull that had probably belonged to some jolly friar or monk of the abbey, about the time it was dis-monasteried. Observing it to be of giant size, and in a perfect state of preservation, a strange fancy seized me of having it set and mounted as a drinking cup. I accordingly sent it to town, and it returned with a very high polish, and of a mottled colour like tortoiseshell."-Medwin's Conversations, 1824, p. 87.]

LINES INSCRISED UPON A CUP FORMED FROM A SKULL!

I.

START not--nor deem my spirit filed;

In me bebold the only skull,

From which, unlike a living head,

Whatever flows is never dull.

2.

I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:
I died: let earth my bones resign;
Fill up thou canst not injure me;
The worm hath fouler lips than thine.

3.

Better to hold the sparking graju,

Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;

And circle in the goblet's shape

The drink of Gods, than reptile's food.

1. Byron gave Medwin the following a count of this cup: -“The gardener in digging discove] a skull that had prebalo belonged to some jolly monk of the abbey, about etme it was dis-monaster.. Observing it to be of giant size, and in a perfect state of preservation, a strange tancy sued me of having it set and mounted as a drinking cup. I accordingly sent it to town, and it returned with a very high polish, and of a mottled colour like tortoiseshell.-Mcdwin's Conversations, 1824, p. 87.]