Childe Harold's Pilgrimage - Canto The Second. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDECFCFF A GHEHHEHEE A IJIJJKJKK L MFMFFNFNO L PQPQQRQRR L STSHHUHUU L M MVVWVWW L LIQIIXIXX Q YVYVVWVWW Q VQVQQLQLL Q VQVQQVQVV Q ZA2ZB2A2QB2QQ Q C2QC2QQD2QD2D2 L E2F2E2F2F2IF2II L QG2QH2H2H2H2H2H2 L H2LH2LLQLQQ L QH2QH2H2I2H2I2I2 L VQVLLQLQQ Q VQVQQLQLL Q J2F2J2F2F2QF2QQ Q LH2LH2H2LH2LL Q IQIQQVQVV Q K2H2K2H2H2L2H2L2L2 L H2IH2IIH2IH2H2 L RVRVVH2VH2H2 L VQVQQH2QH2H2 L H2VH2VVH2VH2H2 L M2H2M2H2H2RH2RR Q QN2QN2N2H2N2H2H2 Q VIVIIVIVV Q LH2LH2H2IH2II Q QQQO2QQO2QQ Q H2H2H2H2H2QH2QQ L H2QH2QQQQQQ L QH2QH2H2QH2QQ L P2H2P2H2H2H2H2H2H2 L Q2H2Q2H2H2R2H2R2R2 L QQQQQVQVV Q H2LH2LLILII Q2 LILIIH2IH2H2 Q2 LFLFFH2FH2H2 F QS2QS2T2IS2II F VQVQQH2QH2H2 Q IH2IH2H2QH2QQ Q H2U2H2U2U2QU2QQ Q V2QV2QQH2QH2H2 Q T2H2T2H2H2H2H2H2H2 Q I2H2FH2H2FH2FF Q FQFH2QH2QH2H2 F H2QH2QQF2QF2F2 H2 H2IH2IIQIQQ H2 QH2QH2H2W2H2W2W2 H2 QQQQQX2QX2X2 Q H2QH2QQQQQQ Q H2QH2H2QQQQQ Q IH2IH2H2H2H2H2H2 Q IIIIIF2IF2F2 Q QQQQQS2QS2S2 Q QH2QH2H2H2H2H2 Q H2QH2QQQQQQ Q H2QH2QQQQQQ Q U2QU2QQQQQQ Q H2Y2H2Y2Y2QY2QQ Q QH2QH2H2QH2QQ Q M2IM2IIH2IH2H2 Q IQIQQQQQQ Q Z2IZ2IIA3I A3A3 Q H2B3H2C3C3H2C3H2H2 Q QH2QH2H2H2H2H2H2 Q QH2QH2H2QH2QQ Q H2H2H2H2H2QH2QQ Q H2IH2QQH2QH2H2 IIH2H2 H2H2W2W2 QQII QQII QQII QQII Y2Y2II H2H2H2H2 IIQO2 H2H2QQ IIII Q Y2H2Y2H2H2V2H2V2V2 I IQIQQH2QH2H2 I QQQH2QD3QE3E3 Q H2IH2IIV2IV2V2 I IH2IH2H2H2H2H2H2 I QIQIIH2IH2H2 Q QQQQQP2QP2P2 Q IQIQQIQII Q V2H2V2H2H2H2H2H2H2 Q H2QH2QQH2QH2H2 Q QH2QH2H2H2H2H2H2 I H2QH2QQH2QH2H2 I IIIIIY2IY2Y2 I QIQIIQIQ I H2QH2QQIQII I H2H2H2H2H2QH2QQ Q V2H2V2H2H2IH2II P2 IIIIIH2IH2H2 Q H2P2H2P2P2IP2II Q V2Y2V2Y2Y2H2Y2H2H2 Q H2H2H2H2H2H2H2H2H2 I P2QP2QQIQII I QH2QH2H2V2H2V2V2 I H2H2H2H2H2H2H2H2H2 I H2P2H2P2P2IP2II I E3IE3IIH2IH2H2

IA
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Come blue eyed maid of heaven but thou alasB
Didst never yet one mortal song inspireC
Goddess of Wisdom here thy temple wasD
And is despite of war and wasting fireE
And years that bade thy worship to expireC
But worse than steel and flame and ages slowF
Is the drear sceptre and dominion direC
Of men who never felt the sacred glowF
That thoughts of thee and thine on polished breasts bestowF
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IIA
-
Ancient of days august Athena whereG
Where are thy men of might thy grand in soulH
Gone glimmering through the dream of things that wereE
First in the race that led to Glory's goalH
They won and passed away is this the wholeH
A schoolboy's tale the wonder of an hourE
The warrior's weapon and the sophist's stoleH
Are sought in vain and o'er each mouldering towerE
Dim with the mist of years grey flits the shade of powerE
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IIIA
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Son of the morning rise approach you hereI
Come but molest not yon defenceless urnJ
Look on this spot a nation's sepulchreI
Abode of gods whose shrines no longer burnJ
E'en gods must yield religions take their turnJ
'Twas Jove's 'tis Mahomet's and other creedsK
Will rise with other years till man shall learnJ
Vainly his incense soars his victim bleedsK
Poor child of Doubt and Death whose hope is built on reedsK
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IVL
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Bound to the earth he lifts his eyes to heavenM
Is't not enough unhappy thing to knowF
Thou art Is this a boon so kindly givenM
That being thou wouldst be again and goF
Thou know'st not reck'st not to what region soF
On earth no more but mingled with the skiesN
Still wilt thou dream on future joy and woeF
Regard and weigh yon dust before it fliesN
That little urn saith more than thousand homiliesO
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VL
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Or burst the vanished hero's lofty moundP
Far on the solitary shore he sleepsQ
He fell and falling nations mourned aroundP
But now not one of saddening thousands weepsQ
Nor warlike worshipper his vigil keepsQ
Where demi gods appeared as records tellR
Remove yon skull from out the scattered heapsQ
Is that a temple where a God may dwellR
Why e'en the worm at last disdains her shattered cellR
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VIL
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Look on its broken arch its ruined wallS
Its chambers desolate and portals foulT
Yes this was once Ambition's airy hallS
The dome of Thought the Palace of the SoulH
Behold through each lack lustre eyeless holeH
The gay recess of Wisdom and of WitU
And Passion's host that never brooked controlH
Can all saint sage or sophist ever writU
People this lonely tower this tenement refitU
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VIIL
-
Well didst thou speak Athena's wisest sonM
'All that we know is nothing can be known '-
Why should we shrink from what we cannot shunM
Each hath its pang but feeble sufferers groanV
With brain born dreams of evil all their ownV
Pursue what chance or fate proclaimeth bestW
Peace waits us on the shores of AcheronV
There no forced banquet claims the sated guestW
But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome restW
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VIIIL
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Yet if as holiest men have deemed there beL
A land of souls beyond that sable shoreI
To shame the doctrine of the SadduceeQ
And sophists madly vain of dubious loreI
How sweet it were in concert to adoreI
With those who made our mortal labours lightX
To hear each voice we feared to hear no moreI
Behold each mighty shade revealed to sightX
The Bactrian Samian sage and all who taught the rightX
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IXQ
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There thou whose love and life together fledY
Have left me here to love and live in vainV
Twined with my heart and can I deem thee deadY
When busy memory flashes on my brainV
Well I will dream that we may meet againV
And woo the vision to my vacant breastW
If aught of young Remembrance then remainV
Be as it may Futurity's behestW
For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blestW
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XQ
-
Here let me sit upon this mossy stoneV
The marble column's yet unshaken baseQ
Here son of Saturn was thy favourite throneV
Mightiest of many such Hence let me traceQ
The latent grandeur of thy dwelling placeQ
It may not be nor even can Fancy's eyeL
Restore what time hath laboured to defaceQ
Yet these proud pillars claim no passing sighL
Unmoved the Moslem sits the light Greek carols byL
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XIQ
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But who of all the plunderers of yon faneV
On high where Pallas lingered loth to fleeQ
The latest relic of her ancient reignV
The last the worst dull spoiler who was heQ
Blush Caledonia such thy son could beQ
England I joy no child he was of thineV
Thy free born men should spare what once was freeQ
Yet they could violate each saddening shrineV
And bear these altars o'er the long reluctant brineV
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XIIQ
-
But most the modern Pict's ignoble boastZ
To rive what Goth and Turk and Time hath sparedA2
Cold as the crags upon his native coastZ
His mind as barren and his heart as hardB2
Is he whose head conceived whose hand preparedA2
Aught to displace Athena's poor remainsQ
Her sons too weak the sacred shrine to guardB2
Yet felt some portion of their mother's painsQ
And never knew till then the weight of Despot's chainsQ
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XIIIQ
-
What shall it e'er be said by British tongueC2
Albion was happy in Athena's tearsQ
Though in thy name the slaves her bosom wrungC2
Tell not the deed to blushing Europe's earsQ
The ocean queen the free Britannia bearsQ
The last poor plunder from a bleeding landD2
Yes she whose generous aid her name endearsQ
Tore down those remnants with a harpy's handD2
Which envious eld forbore and tyrants left to standD2
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XIVL
-
Where was thine aegis Pallas that appalledE2
Stern Alaric and Havoc on their wayF2
Where Peleus' son whom Hell in vain enthralledE2
His shade from Hades upon that dread dayF2
Bursting to light in terrible arrayF2
What could not Pluto spare the chief once moreI
To scare a second robber from his preyF2
Idly he wandered on the Stygian shoreI
Nor now preserved the walls he loved to shield beforeI
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XVL
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Cold is the heart fair Greece that looks on theeQ
Nor feels as lovers o'er the dust they lovedG2
Dull is the eye that will not weep to seeQ
Thy walls defaced thy mouldering shrines removedH2
By British hands which it had best behovedH2
To guard those relics ne'er to be restoredH2
Curst be the hour when from their isle they rovedH2
And once again thy hapless bosom goredH2
And snatched thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorredH2
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XVIL
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But where is Harold shall I then forgetH2
To urge the gloomy wanderer o'er the waveL
Little recked he of all that men regretH2
No loved one now in feigned lament could raveL
No friend the parting hand extended gaveL
Ere the cold stranger passed to other climesQ
Hard is his heart whom charms may not enslaveL
But Harold felt not as in other timesQ
And left without a sigh the land of war and crimesQ
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XVIIL
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He that has sailed upon the dark blue seaQ
Has viewed at times I ween a full fair sightH2
When the fresh breeze is fair as breeze may beQ
The white sails set the gallant frigate tightH2
Masts spires and strand retiring to the rightH2
The glorious main expanding o'er the bowI2
The convoy spread like wild swans in their flightH2
The dullest sailer wearing bravely nowI2
So gaily curl the waves before each dashing prowI2
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XVIIIL
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And oh the little warlike world withinV
The well reeved guns the netted canopyQ
The hoarse command the busy humming dinV
When at a word the tops are manned on highL
Hark to the boatswain's call the cheering cryL
While through the seaman's hand the tackle glidesQ
Or schoolboy midshipman that standing byL
Strains his shrill pipe as good or ill betidesQ
And well the docile crew that skilful urchin guidesQ
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XIXQ
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White is the glassy deck without a stainV
Where on the watch the staid lieutenant walksQ
Look on that part which sacred doth remainV
For the lone chieftain who majestic stalksQ
Silent and feared by all not oft he talksQ
With aught beneath him if he would preserveL
That strict restraint which broken ever baulksQ
Conquest and Fame but Britons rarely swerveL
From law however stern which tends their strength to nerveL
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XXQ
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Blow swiftly blow thou keel compelling galeJ2
Till the broad sun withdraws his lessening rayF2
Then must the pennant bearer slacken sailJ2
That lagging barks may make their lazy wayF2
Ah grievance sore and listless dull delayF2
To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breezeQ
What leagues are lost before the dawn of dayF2
Thus loitering pensive on the willing seasQ
The flapping sails hauled down to halt for logs like theseQ
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XXIQ
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The moon is up by Heaven a lovely eveL
Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expandH2
Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believeL
Such be our fate when we return to landH2
Meantime some rude Arion's restless handH2
Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors loveL
A circle there of merry listeners standH2
Or to some well known measure featly moveL
Thoughtless as if on shore they still were free to roveL
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XXIIQ
-
Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shoreI
Europe and Afric on each other gazeQ
Lands of the dark eyed maid and dusky MoorI
Alike beheld beneath pale Hecate's blazeQ
How softly on the Spanish shore she playsQ
Disclosing rock and slope and forest brownV
Distinct though darkening with her waning phaseQ
But Mauritania's giant shadows frownV
From mountain cliff to coast descending sombre downV
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XXIIIQ
-
'Tis night when Meditation bids us feelK2
We once have loved though love is at an endH2
The heart lone mourner of its baffled zealK2
Though friendless now will dream it had a friendH2
Who with the weight of years would wish to bendH2
When Youth itself survives young Love and JoyL2
Alas when mingling souls forget to blendH2
Death hath but little left him to destroyL2
Ah happy years once more who would not be a boyL2
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XXIVL
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Thus bending o'er the vessel's laving sideH2
To gaze on Dian's wave reflected sphereI
The soul forgets her schemes of Hope and PrideH2
And flies unconscious o'er each backward yearI
None are so desolate but something dearI
Dearer than self possesses or possessedH2
A thought and claims the homage of a tearI
A flashing pang of which the weary breastH2
Would still albeit in vain the heavy heart divestH2
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XXVL
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To sit on rocks to muse o'er flood and fellR
To slowly trace the forest's shady sceneV
Where things that own not man's dominion dwellR
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely beenV
To climb the trackless mountain all unseenV
With the wild flock that never needs a foldH2
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to leanV
This is not solitude 'tis but to holdH2
Converse with Nature's charms and view her stores unrolledH2
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XXVIL
-
But midst the crowd the hum the shock of menV
To hear to see to feel and to possessQ
And roam along the world's tired denizenV
With none who bless us none whom we can blessQ
Minions of splendour shrinking from distressQ
None that with kindred consciousness enduedH2
If we were not would seem to smile the lessQ
Of all that flattered followed sought and suedH2
This is to be alone this this is solitudeH2
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XXVIIL
-
More blest the life of godly eremiteH2
Such as on lonely Athos may be seenV
Watching at eve upon the giant heightH2
Which looks o'er waves so blue skies so sereneV
That he who there at such an hour hath beenV
Will wistful linger on that hallowed spotH2
Then slowly tear him from the witching sceneV
Sigh forth one wish that such had been his lotH2
Then turn to hate a world he had almost forgotH2
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XXVIIIL
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Pass we the long unvarying course the trackM2
Oft trod that never leaves a trace behindH2
Pass we the calm the gale the change the tackM2
And each well known caprice of wave and windH2
Pass we the joys and sorrows sailors findH2
Cooped in their winged sea girt citadelR
The foul the fair the contrary the kindH2
As breezes rise and fall and billows swellR
Till on some jocund morn lo land and all is wellR
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XXIXQ
-
But not in silence pass Calypso's islesQ
The sister tenants of the middle deepN2
There for the weary still a haven smilesQ
Though the fair goddess long has ceased to weepN2
And o'er her cliffs a fruitless watch to keepN2
For him who dared prefer a mortal brideH2
Here too his boy essayed the dreadful leapN2
Stern Mentor urged from high to yonder tideH2
While thus of both bereft the nymph queen doubly sighedH2
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XXXQ
-
Her reign is past her gentle glories goneV
But trust not this too easy youth bewareI
A mortal sovereign holds her dangerous throneV
And thou mayst find a new Calypso thereI
Sweet Florence could another ever shareI
This wayward loveless heart it would be thineV
But checked by every tie I may not dareI
To cast a worthless offering at thy shrineV
Nor ask so dear a breast to feel one pang for mineV
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XXXIQ
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Thus Harold deemed as on that lady's eyeL
He looked and met its beam without a thoughtH2
Save Admiration glancing harmless byL
Love kept aloof albeit not far remoteH2
Who knew his votary often lost and caughtH2
But knew him as his worshipper no moreI
And ne'er again the boy his bosom soughtH2
Since now he vainly urged him to adoreI
Well deemed the little god his ancient sway was o'erI
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XXXIIQ
-
Fair Florence found in sooth with some amazeQ
One who 'twas said still sighed to all he sawQ
Withstand unmoved the lustre of her gazeQ
Which others hailed with real or mimic aweO2
Their hope their doom their punishment their lawQ
All that gay Beauty from her bondsmen claimsQ
And much she marvelled that a youth so rawO2
Nor felt nor feigned at least the oft told flamesQ
Which though sometimes they frown yet rarely anger damesQ
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XXXIIIQ
-
Little knew she that seeming marble heartH2
Now masked by silence or withheld by prideH2
Was not unskilful in the spoiler's artH2
And spread its snares licentious far and wideH2
Nor from the base pursuit had turned asideH2
As long as aught was worthy to pursueQ
But Harold on such arts no more reliedH2
And had he doted on those eyes so blueQ
Yet never would he join the lover's whining crewQ
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XXXIVL
-
Not much he kens I ween of woman's breastH2
Who thinks that wanton thing is won by sighsQ
What careth she for hearts when once possessedH2
Do proper homage to thine idol's eyesQ
But not too humbly or she will despiseQ
Thee and thy suit though told in moving tropesQ
Disguise e'en tenderness if thou art wiseQ
Brisk Confidence still best with woman copesQ
Pique her and soothe in turn soon Passion crowns thy hopesQ
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XXXVL
-
'Tis an old lesson Time approves it trueQ
And those who know it best deplore it mostH2
When all is won that all desire to wooQ
The paltry prize is hardly worth the costH2
Youth wasted minds degraded honour lostH2
These are thy fruits successful Passion theseQ
If kindly cruel early hope is crossedH2
Still to the last it rankles a diseaseQ
Not to be cured when Love itself forgets to pleaseQ
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XXXVIL
-
Away nor let me loiter in my songP2
For we have many a mountain path to treadH2
And many a varied shore to sail alongP2
By pensive Sadness not by Fiction ledH2
Climes fair withal as ever mortal headH2
Imagined in its little schemes of thoughtH2
Or e'er in new Utopias were readH2
To teach man what he might be or he oughtH2
If that corrupted thing could ever such be taughtH2
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XXXVIIL
-
Dear Nature is the kindest mother stillQ2
Though always changing in her aspect mildH2
From her bare bosom let me take my fillQ2
Her never weaned though not her favoured childH2
Oh she is fairest in her features wildH2
Where nothing polished dares pollute her pathR2
To me by day or night she ever smiledH2
Though I have marked her when none other hathR2
And sought her more and more and loved her best in wrathR2
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XXXVIIIL
-
Land of Albania where Iskander roseQ
Theme of the young and beacon of the wiseQ
And he his namesake whose oft baffled foesQ
Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous empriseQ
Land of Albania let me bend mine eyesQ
On thee thou rugged nurse of savage menV
The cross descends thy minarets ariseQ
And the pale crescent sparkles in the glenV
Through many a cypress grove within each city's kenV
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XXXIXQ
-
Childe Harold sailed and passed the barren spotH2
Where sad Penelope o'erlooked the waveL
And onward viewed the mount not yet forgotH2
The lover's refuge and the Lesbian's graveL
Dark Sappho could not verse immortal saveL
That breast imbued with such immortal fireI
Could she not live who life eternal gaveL
If life eternal may await the lyreI
That only Heaven to which Earth's children may aspireI
-
XLQ2
-
'Twas on a Grecian autumn's gentle eveL
Childe Harold hailed Leucadia's cape afarI
A spot he longed to see nor cared to leaveL
Oft did he mark the scenes of vanished warI
Actium Lepanto fatal TrafalgarI
Mark them unmoved for he would not delightH2
Born beneath some remote inglorious starI
In themes of bloody fray or gallant fightH2
But loathed the bravo's trade and laughed at martial wightH2
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XLIQ2
-
But when he saw the evening star aboveL
Leucadia's far projecting rock of woeF
And hailed the last resort of fruitless loveL
He felt or deemed he felt no common glowF
And as the stately vessel glided slowF
Beneath the shadow of that ancient mountH2
He watched the billows' melancholy flowF
And sunk albeit in thought as he was wontH2
More placid seemed his eye and smooth his pallid frontH2
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XLIIF
-
Morn dawns and with it stern Albania's hillsQ
Dark Suli's rocks and Pindus' inland peakS2
Robed half in mist bedewed with snowy rillsQ
Arrayed in many a dun and purple streakS2
Arise and as the clouds along them breakT2
Disclose the dwelling of the mountaineerI
Here roams the wolf the eagle whets his beakS2
Birds beasts of prey and wilder men appearI
And gathering storms around convulse the closing yearI
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XLIIIF
-
Now Harold felt himself at length aloneV
And bade to Christian tongues a long adieuQ
Now he adventured on a shore unknownV
Which all admire but many dread to viewQ
His breast was armed 'gainst fate his wants were fewQ
Peril he sought not but ne'er shrank to meetH2
The scene was savage but the scene was newQ
This made the ceaseless toil of travel sweetH2
Beat back keen winter's blast and welcomed summer's heatH2
-
XLIVQ
-
Here the red cross for still the cross is hereI
Though sadly scoffed at by the circumcisedH2
Forgets that pride to pampered priesthood dearI
Churchman and votary alike despisedH2
Foul Superstition howsoe'er disguisedH2
Idol saint virgin prophet crescent crossQ
For whatsoever symbol thou art prizedH2
Thou sacerdotal gain but general lossQ
Who from true worship's gold can separate thy drossQ
-
XLVQ
-
Ambracia's gulf behold where once was lostH2
A world for woman lovely harmless thingU2
In yonder rippling bay their naval hostH2
Did many a Roman chief and Asian kingU2
To doubtful conflict certain slaughter bringU2
Look where the second Caesar's trophies roseQ
Now like the hands that reared them witheringU2
Imperial anarchs doubling human woesQ
God was thy globe ordained for such to win and loseQ
-
XLVIQ
-
From the dark barriers of that rugged climeV2
E'en to the centre of Illyria's valesQ
Childe Harold passed o'er many a mount sublimeV2
Through lands scarce noticed in historic talesQ
Yet in famed Attica such lovely dalesQ
Are rarely seen nor can fair Tempe boastH2
A charm they know not loved Parnassus failsQ
Though classic ground and consecrated mostH2
To match some spots that lurk within this lowering coastH2
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XLVIIQ
-
He passed bleak Pindus Acherusia's lakeT2
And left the primal city of the landH2
And onwards did his further journey takeT2
To greet Albania's chief whose dread commandH2
Is lawless law for with a bloody handH2
He sways a nation turbulent and boldH2
Yet here and there some daring mountain bandH2
Disdain his power and from their rocky holdH2
Hurl their defiance far nor yield unless to goldH2
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XLVIIIQ
-
Monastic Zitza from thy shady browI2
Thou small but favoured spot of holy groundH2
Where'er we gaze around above belowF
What rainbow tints what magic charms are foundH2
Rock river forest mountain all aboundH2
And bluest skies that harmonise the wholeF
Beneath the distant torrent's rushing soundH2
Tells where the volumed cataract doth rollF
Between those hanging rocks that shock yet please the soulF
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XLIXQ
-
Amidst the grove that crowns yon tufted hillF
Which were it not for many a mountain nighQ
Rising in lofty ranks and loftier stillF
Might well itself be deemed of dignityH2
The convent's white walls glisten fair on highQ
Here dwells the caloyer nor rude is heH2
Nor niggard of his cheer the passer byQ
Is welcome still nor heedless will he fleeH2
From hence if he delight kind Nature's sheen to seeH2
-
LF
-
Here in the sultriest season let him restH2
Fresh is the green beneath those aged treesQ
Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breastH2
From heaven itself he may inhale the breezeQ
The plain is far beneath oh let him seizeQ
Pure pleasure while he can the scorching rayF2
Here pierceth not impregnate with diseaseQ
Then let his length the loitering pilgrim layF2
And gaze untired the morn the noon the eve awayF2
-
LIH2
-
Dusky and huge enlarging on the sightH2
Nature's volcanic amphitheatreI
Chimera's alps extend from left to rightH2
Beneath a living valley seems to stirI
Flocks play trees wave streams flow the mountain firI
Nodding above behold black AcheronQ
Once consecrated to the sepulchreI
Pluto if this be hell I look uponQ
Close shamed Elysium's gates my shade shall seek for noneQ
-
LIIH2
-
No city's towers pollute the lovely viewQ
Unseen is Yanina though not remoteH2
Veiled by the screen of hills here men are fewQ
Scanty the hamlet rare the lonely cotH2
But peering down each precipice the goatH2
Browseth and pensive o'er his scattered flockW2
The little shepherd in his white capoteH2
Doth lean his boyish form along the rockW2
Or in his cave awaits the tempest's short lived shockW2
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LIIIH2
-
Oh where Dodona is thine aged groveQ
Prophetic fount and oracle divineQ
What valley echoed the response of JoveQ
What trace remaineth of the Thunderer's shrineQ
All all forgotten and shall man repineQ
That his frail bonds to fleeting life are brokeX2
Cease fool the fate of gods may well be thineQ
Wouldst thou survive the marble or the oakX2
When nations tongues and worlds must sink beneath the strokeX2
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LIVQ
-
Epirus' bounds recede and mountains failH2
Tired of up gazing still the wearied eyeQ
Reposes gladly on as smooth a valeH2
As ever Spring yclad in grassy dyeQ
E'en on a plain no humble beauties lieQ
Where some bold river breaks the long expanseQ
And woods along the banks are waving highQ
Whose shadows in the glassy waters danceQ
Or with the moonbeam sleep in Midnight's solemn tranceQ
-
LVQ
-
The sun had sunk behind vast TomeritH2
The Laos wide and fierce came roaring byQ
The shades of wonted night were gathering yetH2
When down the steep banks winding wearilyH2
Childe Harold saw like meteors in the skyQ
The glittering minarets of TepalenQ
Whose walls o'erlook the stream and drawing nighQ
He heard the busy hum of warrior menQ
Swelling the breeze that sighed along the lengthening glenQ
-
LVIQ
-
He passed the sacred harem's silent towerI
And underneath the wide o'erarching gateH2
Surveyed the dwelling of this chief of powerI
Where all around proclaimed his high estateH2
Amidst no common pomp the despot sateH2
While busy preparation shook the courtH2
Slaves eunuchs soldiers guests and santons waitH2
Within a palace and without a fortH2
Here men of every clime appear to make resortH2
-
LVIIQ
-
Richly caparisoned a ready rowI
Of armed horse and many a warlike storeI
Circled the wide extending court belowI
Above strange groups adorned the corridorI
And ofttimes through the area's echoing doorI
Some high capped Tartar spurred his steed awayF2
The Turk the Greek the Albanian and the MoorI
Here mingled in their many hued arrayF2
While the deep war drum's sound announced the close of dayF2
-
LVIIIQ
-
The wild Albanian kirtled to his kneeQ
With shawl girt head and ornamented gunQ
And gold embroidered garments fair to seeQ
The crimson scarfed men of MacedonQ
The Delhi with his cap of terror onQ
And crooked glaive the lively supple GreekS2
And swarthy Nubia's mutilated sonQ
The bearded Turk that rarely deigns to speakS2
Master of all around too potent to be meekS2
-
LIXQ
-
Are mixed conspicuous some recline in groupsQ
Scanning the motley scene that varies roundH2
There some grave Moslem to devotion stoopsQ
And some that smoke and some that play are foundH2
Here the Albanian proudly treads the groundH2
Half whispering there the Greek is heard to prateH2
Hark from the mosque the nightly solemn soundH2
The muezzin's call doth shake the minaretH2
'There is no god but God to prayer lo God is great '-
-
LXQ
-
Just at this season Ramazani's fastH2
Through the long day its penance did maintainQ
But when the lingering twilight hour was pastH2
Revel and feast assumed the rule againQ
Now all was bustle and the menial trainQ
Prepared and spread the plenteous board withinQ
The vacant gallery now seemed made in vainQ
But from the chambers came the mingling dinQ
As page and slave anon were passing out and inQ
-
LXIQ
-
Here woman's voice is never heard apartH2
And scarce permitted guarded veiled to moveQ
She yields to one her person and her heartH2
Tamed to her cage nor feels a wish to roveQ
For not unhappy in her master's loveQ
And joyful in a mother's gentlest caresQ
Blest cares all other feelings far aboveQ
Herself more sweetly rears the babe she bearsQ
Who never quits the breast no meaner passion sharesQ
-
LXIIQ
-
In marble paved pavilion where a springU2
Of living water from the centre roseQ
Whose bubbling did a genial freshness flingU2
And soft voluptuous couches breathed reposeQ
Ali reclined a man of war and woesQ
Yet in his lineaments ye cannot traceQ
While Gentleness her milder radiance throwsQ
Along that aged venerable faceQ
The deeds that lurk beneath and stain him with disgraceQ
-
LXIIIQ
-
It is not that yon hoary lengthening beardH2
Ill suits the passions which belong to youthY2
Love conquers age so Hafiz hath averredH2
So sings the Teian and he sings in soothY2
But crimes that scorn the tender voice of ruthY2
Beseeming all men ill but most the manQ
In years have marked him with a tiger's toothY2
Blood follows blood and through their mortal spanQ
In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood beganQ
-
LXIVQ
-
Mid many things most new to ear and eyeQ
The pilgrim rested here his weary feetH2
And gazed around on Moslem luxuryQ
Till quickly wearied with that spacious seatH2
Of Wealth and Wantonness the choice retreatH2
Of sated Grandeur from the city's noiseQ
And were it humbler it in sooth were sweetH2
But Peace abhorreth artificial joysQ
And Pleasure leagued with Pomp the zest of both destroysQ
-
LXVQ
-
Fierce are Albania's children yet they lackM2
Not virtues were those virtues more matureI
Where is the foe that ever saw their backM2
Who can so well the toil of war endureI
Their native fastnesses not more secureI
Than they in doubtful time of troublous needH2
Their wrath how deadly but their friendship sureI
When Gratitude or Valour bids them bleedH2
Unshaken rushing on where'er their chief may leadH2
-
LXVIQ
-
Childe Harold saw them in their chieftain's towerI
Thronging to war in splendour and successQ
And after viewed them when within their powerI
Himself awhile the victim of distressQ
That saddening hour when bad men hotlier pressQ
But these did shelter him beneath their roofQ
When less barbarians would have cheered him lessQ
And fellow countrymen have stood aloofQ
In aught that tries the heart how few withstand the proofQ
-
LXVIIQ
-
It chanced that adverse winds once drove his barkZ2
Full on the coast of Suli's shaggy shoreI
When all around was desolate and darkZ2
To land was perilous to sojourn moreI
Yet for awhile the mariners forboreI
Dubious to trust where treachery might lurkA3
At length they ventured forth though doubting soreI
-
That those who loathe alike the Frank and TurkA3
Might once again renew their ancient butcher workA3
-
LXVIIIQ
-
Vain fear the Suliotes stretched the welcome handH2
Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swampB3
Kinder than polished slaves though not so blandH2
And piled the hearth and wrung their garments dampC3
And filled the bowl and trimmed the cheerful lampC3
And spread their fare though homely all they hadH2
Such conduct bears Philanthropy's rare stampC3
To rest the weary and to soothe the sadH2
Doth lesson happier men and shames at least the badH2
-
LXIXQ
-
It came to pass that when he did addressQ
Himself to quit at length this mountain landH2
Combined marauders half way barred egressQ
And wasted far and near with glaive and brandH2
And therefore did he take a trusty bandH2
To traverse Acarnania forest wideH2
In war well seasoned and with labours tannedH2
Till he did greet white Achelous' tideH2
And from his farther bank AEtolia's wolds espiedH2
-
LXXQ
-
Where lone Utraikey forms its circling coveQ
And weary waves retire to gleam at restH2
How brown the foliage of the green hill's groveQ
Nodding at midnight o'er the calm bay's breastH2
As winds come whispering lightly from the westH2
Kissing not ruffling the blue deep's sereneQ
Here Harold was received a welcome guestH2
Nor did he pass unmoved the gentle sceneQ
For many a joy could he from night's soft presence gleanQ
-
LXXIQ
-
On the smooth shore the night fires brightly blazedH2
The feast was done the red wine circling fastH2
And he that unawares had there ygazedH2
With gaping wonderment had stared aghastH2
For ere night's midmost stillest hour was pastH2
The native revels of the troop beganQ
Each palikar his sabre from him castH2
And bounding hand in hand man linked to manQ
Yelling their uncouth dirge long danced the kirtled clanQ
-
LXXIIQ
-
Childe Harold at a little distance stoodH2
And viewed but not displeased the revelrieI
Nor hated harmless mirth however rudeH2
In sooth it was no vulgar sight to seeQ
Their barbarous yet their not indecent gleeQ
And as the flames along their faces gleamedH2
Their gestures nimble dark eyes flashing freeQ
The long wild locks that to their girdles streamedH2
While thus in concert they this lay half sang half screamedH2
-
-
Tambourgi Tambourgi thy larum afarI
Gives hope to the valiant and promise of warI
All the sons of the mountains arise at the noteH2
Chimariot Illyrian and dark SulioteH2
-
Oh who is more brave than a dark SulioteH2
To his snowy camese and his shaggy capoteH2
To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flockW2
And descends to the plain like the stream from the rockW2
-
Shall the sons of Chimari who never forgiveQ
The fault of a friend bid an enemy liveQ
Let those guns so unerring such vengeance foregoI
What mark is so fair as the breast of a foeI
-
Macedonia sends forth her invincible raceQ
For a time they abandon the cave and the chaseQ
But those scarves of blood red shall be redder beforeI
The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'erI
-
Then the pirates of Parga that dwell by the wavesQ
And teach the pale Franks what it is to be slavesQ
Shall leave on the beach the long galley and oarI
And track to his covert the captive on shoreI
-
I ask not the pleasure that riches supplyQ
My sabre shall win what the feeble must buyQ
Shall win the young bride with her long flowing hairI
And many a maid from her mother shall tearI
-
I love the fair face of the maid in her youthY2
Her caresses shall lull me her music shall sootheY2
Let her bring from her chamber the many toned lyreI
And sing us a song on the fall of her sireI
-
Remember the moment when Previsa fellH2
The shrieks of the conquered the conqueror's yellH2
The roofs that we fired and the plunder we sharedH2
The wealthy we slaughtered the lovely we sparedH2
-
I talk not of mercy I talk not of fearI
He neither must know who would serve the VizierI
Since the days of our prophet the crescent ne'er sawQ
A chief ever glorious like Ali PashaO2
-
Dark Muchtar his son to the Danube is spedH2
Let the yellow haired Giaours view his horsetail with dreadH2
When his Delhis come dashing in blood o'er the banksQ
How few shall escape from the Muscovite ranksQ
-
Selictar unsheath then our chief's scimitarI
Tambourgi thy larum gives promise of warI
Ye mountains that see us descend to the shoreI
Shall view us as victors or view us no moreI
-
LXXIIIQ
-
Fair Greece sad relic of departed worthY2
Immortal though no more though fallen greatH2
Who now shall lead thy scattered children forthY2
And long accustomed bondage uncreateH2
Not such thy sons who whilome did awaitH2
The hopeless warriors of a willing doomV2
In bleak Thermopylae's sepulchral straitH2
Oh who that gallant spirit shall resumeV2
Leap from Eurotas' banks and call thee from the tombV2
-
LXXIVI
-
Spirit of Freedom when on Phyle's browI
Thou sat'st with Thrasybulus and his trainQ
Couldst thou forbode the dismal hour which nowI
Dims the green beauties of thine Attic plainQ
Not thirty tyrants now enforce the chainQ
But every carle can lord it o'er thy landH2
Nor rise thy sons but idly rail in vainQ
Trembling beneath the scourge of Turkish handH2
From birth till death enslaved in word in deed unmannedH2
-
LXXVI
-
In all save form alone how changed and whoQ
That marks the fire still sparkling in each eyeQ
Who would but deem their bosom burned anewQ
With thy unquenched beam lost LibertyH2
And many dream withal the hour is nighQ
That gives them back their fathers' heritageD3
For foreign arms and aid they fondly sighQ
Nor solely dare encounter hostile rageE3
Or tear their name defiled from Slavery's mournful pageE3
-
LXXVIQ
-
Hereditary bondsmen know ye notH2
Who would be free themselves must strike the blowI
By their right arms the conquest must be wroughtH2
Will Gaul or Muscovite redress ye NoI
True they may lay your proud despoilers lowI
But not for you will Freedom's altars flameV2
Shades of the Helots triumph o'er your foeI
Greece change thy lords thy state is still the sameV2
Thy glorious day is o'er but not thy years of shameV2
-
LXXVIII
-
The city won for Allah from the GiaourI
The Giaour from Othman's race again may wrestH2
And the Serai's impenetrable towerI
Receive the fiery Frank her former guestH2
Or Wahab's rebel brood who dared divestH2
The Prophet's tomb of all its pious spoilH2
May wind their path of blood along the WestH2
But ne'er will Freedom seek this fated soilH2
But slave succeed to slave through years of endless toilH2
-
LXXVIIII
-
Yet mark their mirth ere lenten days beginQ
That penance which their holy rites prepareI
To shrive from man his weight of mortal sinQ
By daily abstinence and nightly prayerI
But ere his sackcloth garb Repentance wearI
Some days of joyaunce are decreed to allH2
To take of pleasaunce each his secret shareI
In motley robe to dance at masking ballH2
And join the mimic train of merry CarnivalH2
-
LXXIXQ
-
And whose more rife with merriment than thineQ
O Stamboul once the empress of their reignQ
Though turbans now pollute Sophia's shrineQ
And Greece her very altars eyes in vainQ
Alas her woes will still pervade my strainQ
Gay were her minstrels once for free her throngP2
All felt the common joy they now must feignQ
Nor oft I've seen such sight nor heard such songP2
As wooed the eye and thrilled the Bosphorus alongP2
-
LXXXQ
-
Loud was the lightsome tumult on the shoreI
Oft Music changed but never ceased her toneQ
And timely echoed back the measured oarI
And rippling waters made a pleasant moanQ
The Queen of tides on high consenting shoneQ
And when a transient breeze swept o'er the waveI
'Twas as if darting from her heavenly throneQ
A brighter glance her form reflected gaveI
Till sparkling billows seemed to light the banks they laveI
-
LXXXIQ
-
Glanced many a light caique along the foamV2
Danced on the shore the daughters of the landH2
No thought had man or maid of rest or homeV2
While many a languid eye and thrilling handH2
Exchanged the look few bosoms may withstandH2
Or gently pressed returned the pressure stillH2
Oh Love young Love bound in thy rosy bandH2
Let sage or cynic prattle as he willH2
These hours and only these redeemed Life's years of illH2
-
LXXXIIQ
-
But midst the throng in merry masqueradeH2
Lurk there no hearts that throb with secret painQ
E'en through the closest searment half betrayedH2
To such the gentle murmurs of the mainQ
Seem to re echo all they mourn in vainQ
To such the gladness of the gamesome crowdH2
Is source of wayward thought and stern disdainQ
How do they loathe the laughter idly loudH2
And long to change the robe of revel for the shroudH2
-
LXXXIIIQ
-
This must he feel the true born son of GreeceQ
If Greece one true born patriot can boastH2
Not such as prate of war but skulk in peaceQ
The bondsman's peace who sighs for all he lostH2
Yet with smooth smile his tyrant can accostH2
And wield the slavish sickle not the swordH2
Ah Greece they love thee least who owe thee mostH2
Their birth their blood and that sublime recordH2
Of hero sires who shame thy now degenerate hordeH2
-
LXXXIVI
-
When riseth Lacedaemon's hardihoodH2
When Thebes Epaminondas rears againQ
When Athens' children are with hearts enduedH2
When Grecian mothers shall give birth to menQ
Then mayst thou be restored but not till thenQ
A thousand years scarce serve to form a stateH2
An hour may lay it in the dust and whenQ
Can man its shattered splendour renovateH2
Recall its virtues back and vanquish Time and FateH2
-
LXXXVI
-
And yet how lovely in thine age of woeI
Land of lost gods and godlike men art thouI
Thy vales of evergreen thy hills of snowI
Proclaim thee Nature's varied favourite nowI
Thy fanes thy temples to the surface bowI
Commingling slowly with heroic earthY2
Broke by the share of every rustic ploughI
So perish monuments of mortal birthY2
So perish all in turn save well recorded worthY2
-
LXXXVII
-
Save where some solitary column mournsQ
Above its prostrate brethren of the caveI
Save where Tritonia's airy shrine adornsQ
Colonna's cliff and gleams along the waveI
Save o'er some warrior's half forgotten graveI
Where the grey stones and unmolested grassQ
Ages but not oblivion feebly braveI
While strangers only not regardless passQ
Lingering like me perchance to gaze and sigh 'Alas '-
-
LXXXVIII
-
Yet are thy skies as blue thy crags as wildH2
Sweet are thy groves and verdant are thy fieldsQ
Thine olives ripe as when Minerva smiledH2
And still his honeyed wealth Hymettus yieldsQ
There the blithe bee his fragrant fortress buildsQ
The freeborn wanderer of thy mountain airI
Apollo still thy long long summer gildsQ
Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glareI
Art Glory Freedom fail but Nature still is fairI
-
LXXXVIIII
-
Where'er we tread 'tis haunted holy groundH2
No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mouldH2
But one vast realm of wonder spreads aroundH2
And all the Muse's tales seem truly toldH2
Till the sense aches with gazing to beholdH2
The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt uponQ
Each hill and dale each deepening glen and woldH2
Defies the power which crushed thy temples goneQ
Age shakes Athena's tower but spares gray MarathonQ
-
LXXXIXQ
-
The sun the soil but not the slave the sameV2
Unchanged in all except its foreign lordH2
Preserves alike its bounds and boundless fameV2
The battle field where Persia's victim hordeH2
First bowed beneath the brunt of Hellas' swordH2
As on the morn to distant Glory dearI
When Marathon became a magic wordH2
Which uttered to the hearer's eye appearI
The camp the host the fight the conqueror's careerI
-
XCP2
-
The flying Mede his shaftless broken bowI
The fiery Greek his red pursuing spearI
Mountains above Earth's Ocean's plain belowI
Death in the front Destruction in the rearI
Such was the scene what now remaineth hereI
What sacred trophy marks the hallowed groundH2
Recording Freedom's smile and Asia's tearI
The rifled urn the violated moundH2
The dust thy courser's hoof rude stranger spurns aroundH2
-
XCIQ
-
Yet to the remnants of thy splendour pastH2
Shall pilgrims pensive but unwearied throngP2
Long shall the voyager with th' Ionian blastH2
Hail the bright clime of battle and of songP2
Long shall thine annals and immortal tongueP2
Fill with thy fame the youth of many a shoreI
Boast of the aged lesson of the youngP2
Which sages venerate and bards adoreI
As Pallas and the Muse unveil their awful loreI
-
XCIIQ
-
The parted bosom clings to wonted homeV2
If aught that's kindred cheer the welcome hearthY2
He that is lonely hither let him roamV2
And gaze complacent on congenial earthY2
Greece is no lightsome land of social mirthY2
But he whom Sadness sootheth may abideH2
And scarce regret the region of his birthY2
When wandering slow by Delphi's sacred sideH2
Or gazing o'er the plains where Greek and Persian diedH2
-
XCIIIQ
-
Let such approach this consecrated landH2
And pass in peace along the magic wasteH2
But spare its relics let no busy handH2
Deface the scenes already how defacedH2
Not for such purpose were these altars placedH2
Revere the remnants nations once reveredH2
So may our country's name be undisgracedH2
So mayst thou prosper where thy youth was rearedH2
By every honest joy of love and life endearedH2
-
XCIVI
-
For thee who thus in too protracted songP2
Hath soothed thine idlesse with inglorious laysQ
Soon shall thy voice be lost amid the throngP2
Of louder minstrels in these later daysQ
To such resign the strife for fading baysQ
Ill may such contest now the spirit moveI
Which heeds nor keen reproach nor partial praiseQ
Since cold each kinder heart that might approveI
And none are left to please where none are left to loveI
-
XCVI
-
Thou too art gone thou loved and lovely oneQ
Whom youth and youth's affections bound to meH2
Who did for me what none beside have doneQ
Nor shrank from one albeit unworthy theeH2
What is my being thou hast ceased to beH2
Nor stayed to welcome here thy wanderer homeV2
Who mourns o'er hours which we no more shall seeH2
Would they had never been or were to comeV2
Would he had ne'er returned to find fresh cause to roamV2
-
XCVII
-
Oh ever loving lovely and belovedH2
How selfish Sorrow ponders on the pastH2
And clings to thoughts now better far removedH2
But Time shall tear thy shadow from me lastH2
All thou couldst have of mine stern Death thou hastH2
The parent friend and now the more than friendH2
Ne'er yet for one thine arrows flew so fastH2
And grief with grief continuing still to blendH2
Hath snatched the little joy that life had yet to lendH2
-
XCVIII
-
Then must I plunge again into the crowdH2
And follow all that Peace disdains to seekP2
Where Revel calls and Laughter vainly loudH2
False to the heart distorts the hollow cheekP2
To leave the flagging spirit doubly weakP2
Still o'er the features which perforce they cheerI
To feign the pleasure or conceal the piqueP2
Smiles form the channel of a future tearI
Or raise the writhing lip with ill dissembled sneerI
-
XCVIIII
-
What is the worst of woes that wait on ageE3
What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the browI
To view each loved one blotted from life's pageE3
And be alone on earth as I am nowI
Before the Chastener humbly let me bowI
O'er hearts divided and o'er hopes destroyedH2
Roll on vain days full reckless may ye flowI
Since Time hath reft whate'er my soul enjoyedH2
And with the ills of eld mine earlier years alloyedH2

George Gordon Byron



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