Tomorrow sees it bloom again: The stalk some spirit gently rears, And waters with celestial tears; For well may maids of Helle deem That this can be no earthly flower, Which mocks the tempest's withering hour, And buds unshelter'd by a bower; Nor droops though Spring refuse her shower, Nor woos the summer beam: But soft as harp that Houri strings It were the bulbul; but his throat, Though mournful, pours not such a strain: For they who listen cannot leave And yet so sweet the tears they shed, And longer yet would weep and wake, But when the day-blush bursts from high Expires that magic melody. And some have been who could believe, 'Tis from her cypress summit heard, fell; Lash'd by the tumbling tide, whose wave Denied his bones a holier grave: And there by night, reclined, 'tis said, Is seen a ghastly turban'd head: And hence extended by the billow, "Tis named the "Pirate-phantom's pillow!"' Where first it lay that mourning flower this to 65 35 All quell'd!-Dark Spirit! what must be The madness of thy memory! 70 The Spaniard, when the lust of sway An empire for a cell; A strict accountant of his beads, A subtle disputant on creeds, His dotage trifled well: Yet better had he neither known A bigot's shrine-nor despot's throne. But thou-from thy reluctant hand 75 Too late thou leav'st the high command To see thine own unstrung; 80 To think that God's fair world hath been The footstool of a thing so mean; 85 And Earth hath spilt her blood for him, 1 Milo, a famous Greek athlete (6th cent. B. C.), who is said to have been eaten by wolves while his hands were caught in the cleft of a tree which he had tried to pull apart. See Valerius Maximus's Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium, IX, 12, 2, 9. After Napoleon abdicated the throne on April 3, 1814, he was banished to the Island of Elba. Sulla, the great Roman general, who made himself dictator, revenged himself on his foes, and then, in the height of his power (79 B. C.), retired to private life. 4 Charles V, King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who abdicated his throne in 1556, and spent the rest of his life in a monastery. Oh! ne'er may tyrant leave behind 90 A brighter name to lure mankind! Thine evil deeds are writ in gore, Nor written thus in vain- 95 If thou hadst died as honor dies, To shame the world again- 100 Weigh'd in the balance, hero dust To all that pass away: But yet methought the living great 105 Some higher sparks should animate, To dazzle and dismay: 110 115 Nor deem'd Contempt could thus make mirth Of these, the conquerors of the earth. And she, proud Austria's mournful flower, How bears her breast the torturing hour? Must she too bend, must she too share Thou throneless homicide? If still she loves thee, hoard that gem,- Then haste thee to thy sullen isle, 120 That element may meet thy smile- That Earth is now as free! 125 That Corinth's pedagogue2 hath now Transferr'd his by-word to thy brow. 130 Thou Timour! in his captive's cages What thoughts will there be thine, While brooding in thy prison'd rage? But one-"The world was mine!" Unless, like he of Babylon,* All sense is with thy sceptre gone, 1 Maria Louisa, daughter of Francis I, Emperor of Austria (1804-35). Dionysius the Younger, who opened a school for boys at Corinth (344 B. C.) after he was banished from Syracuse. Napoleon is likened to Timur (Tamerlane), the Mongolian conqueror, who in 1402 defeated and captured Bajazet I, Sultan of Turkey, and is said to have carried him about in an iron cage. See Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, IV, 2; also Rowe's Tamerlane. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (604-561 B. C.). He was insane for seven years. See Daniel, 4. 155 160 Through the long twilight of all time, Despite some passing clouds of crime. But thou forsooth must be a king, As if that foolish robe could wring Where may the wearied eye repose Yes-one-the first-the last-the best- Whom envy dared not hate, 170 Bequeath'd the name of Washington, To make man blush there was but one! SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY4 She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: 5 Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. 1 Prometheus. 2 A reference to the story that Napoleon was engaged in an unworthy love affair at the time of his abdication. See Othello, IV, 1, 69. The chain of enameled eagles. Lady Wilmot Horton, whom Byron had seen at a ball, attired in mourning with spangles on her dress. And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord! STANZAS FOR MUSIC There's not a joy the world can give like When the glow of early thought declines in feeling's dull decay; 'Tis not on youth's smooth cheek the blush alone, which fades so fast, But the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere youth itself be past. 5 Then the few whose spirits float above the wreck of happiness Are driven o'er the shoals of guilt or ocean of excess: The magnet of their course is gone, or only points in vain The shore to which their shiver'd sail shall never stretch again. Then the mortal coldness of the soul like death itself comes down; 10 It cannot feel for others' woes, it dare not dream its own; That heavy chill has frozen o'er the fountain of our tears, And though the eye may sparkle still, 'tis where the ice appears. Though wit may flash from fluent lips, and mirth distract the breast, Through midnight hours that yield no more their former hope of rest; 15 'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreath, All green and wildly fresh without, but Oh could I feel as I have felt,-or be what Or weep as I could once have wept o'er As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be, 20 So, midst the wither'd waste of life, those tears would flow to me. |