George Gordon Byron

“ My goblets blush'd from every vine,
And lovely forms caress'd me;
I sunn'd my heart in beauty's eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender;
All earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour. ”

“ And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent! ”

“ MY SOUL IS DARK.
I.
My soul is dark—Oh! quickly string
The harp I yet can brook to hear;
And let thy gentle fingers fling
Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear.
If in this heart a hope be dear,
That sound shall charm it forth again ”

“ 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 slave only sin, thou art spotless and free!
If the Exile on earth is an Outcast on high,
Live on in thy faith, but in mine I will die. ”

“ Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet.
III.
Farewell to others, but never we part,
Heir to my royalty, son of my heart!
Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway,
Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day! ”

“ My wrath but doom'd my own despair:
The sword that smote her's o'er me waving.—
But thou art cold, my murdered love!
And this dark heart is vainly craving
For her who soars alone above,
And leaves my soul unworthy saving. ”

“ III.
More blest each palm that shades those plains
Than Israel's scattered race;
For, taking root, it there remains
In solitary grace:
It cannot quit its place of birth,
It will not live in other earth. ”

“ Its glance dilate o'er all to be,
While sun is quench'd or system breaks,
Fix'd in its own eternity.
IV.
Above or Love, Hope, Hate, or Fear,
It lives all passionless and pure:
An age shall fleet like earthly year ”

“ And striving to o'erleap the gulph,
Yet cling to Being's severing link.
Oh! in that future let us think
To hold each heart the heart that shares,
With them the immortal waters drink,
And soul in soul grow deathless theirs! ”

“ Since thy triumph was bought by thy vow—
Strike the bosom that's bared for thee now!
II.
And the voice of my mourning is o'er,
And the mountains behold me no more:
If the hand that I love lay me low,
There cannot be pain in the blow! ”

“ A deep and mellow dye,
Which scarce the shade of coming eve
Can banish from the sky,
Those smiles unto the moodiest mind
Their own pure joy impart;
Their sunshine leaves a glow behind
That lightens o'er the heart. ”

“ Though thou art fall'n, while we are free
Thou shalt not taste of death!
The generous blood that flowed from thee
Disdain'd to sink beneath:
Within our veins its currents be,
Thy spirit on our breath! ”

“ The hearts that leap'd before its heavenly voice?
III.
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,
How shall ye flee away and be at rest!
The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox his cave,
Mankind their Country—Israel but the grave! ”

“ The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. ”

“ And lingering pause and lightly tread;
Fond wretch! as if her step disturb'd the dead!
III.
Away; we know that tears are vain,
That death nor heeds nor hears distress:
Will this unteach us to complain? ”

“ And as my damp hair stiffened, thus it spake:
II.
"Is man more just than God? Is man more pure
Than he who deems even Seraphs insecure?
Creatures of clay—vain dwellers in the dust!
The moth survives you, and are ye more just? ”

“ DOWN AND WEPT.
I.
We sate down and wept by the waters
Of Babel, and thought of the day
When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters,
Made Salem's high places his prey;
And ye, oh her desolate daughters! ”

“ The lamps around were bright,
The prophecy in view;
He read it on that night,—
The morrow proved it true.
VI.
"Belshazzar's grave is made,
"His kingdom pass'd away,
"He in the balance weighed,
"Is light and worthless clay. ”

“ The Selected Beauties of British Poetry, with Lives of the Poets, and Critical Dissertations. To which is prefixed, an Essay on English Poetry. By Thomas Campbell, Esq. Author of the Pleasures of Hope. 4 vols. post 8vo. In the Press. ”

“ Plates to illustrate Lord Byron's Works. Twelve Plates, illustrative of the Poems of Lord Byron, engraved by C. Heath and other eminent Artists, from the original Designs of Stothard. Printed in 4to. 8vo. ”