The Works of Lord Byron Volume II Part 3

Why dost thou look so pale?

Or dost thou dread a French foeman?

Or shiver at the gale?"-- 'Deem'st thou I tremble for my life?

Sir Childe, I'm not so weak; But thinking on an absent wife Will blanch a faithful cheek.

7.

'My spouse and boys dwell near thy hall, Along the bordering Lake, And when they on their father call, What answer shall she make?'-- "Enough, enough, my yeoman good,[am]

Thy grief let none gainsay; But I, who am of lighter mood, Will laugh to flee away.

8.

"For who would trust the seeming sighs[an]

Of wife or paramour?

Fresh feeres will dry the bright blue eyes We late saw streaming o'er.

For pleasures past I do not grieve, Nor perils gathering near; My greatest grief is that I leave No thing that claims a tear.[39]

9.

"And now I'm in the world alone, Upon the wide, wide sea: But why should I for others groan, When none will sigh for me?

Perchance my Dog will whine in vain, Till fed by stranger hands; But long ere I come back again, He'd tear me where he stands.[ao][40]

10.

"With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go Athwart the foaming brine; Nor care what land thou bear'st me to, So not again to mine.

Welcome, welcome, ye dark-blue waves!

And when you fail my sight, Welcome, ye deserts, and ye caves!

My native Land--Good Night!"

XIV.

On, on the vessel flies, the land is gone, And winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay.

Four days are sped, but with the fifth, anon, New sh.o.r.es descried make every bosom gay; And Cintra's mountain[41] greets them on their way, And Tagus dashing onward to the Deep, His fabled golden tribute[42] bent to pay; And soon on board the Lusian pilots leap, And steer 'twixt fertile sh.o.r.es where yet few rustics reap.[ap]

XV.

Oh, Christ! it is a goodly sight to see What Heaven hath done for this delicious land![aq]

What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree!

What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand!

But man would mar them with an impious hand: And when the Almighty lifts his fiercest scourge 'Gainst those who most transgress his high command, With treble vengeance will his hot shafts urge Gaul's locust host, and earth from fellest foemen purge[ar]

XVI.

What beauties doth Lisboa[43] first unfold![as]

Her image floating on that n.o.ble tide, Which poets vainly pave with sands of gold,[at]

But now whereon a thousand keels did ride Of mighty strength, since Albion was allied, And to the Lusians did her aid afford: A nation swoln with ignorance and pride,[44]

Who lick yet loathe the hand that waves the sword[au]

To save them from the wrath of Gaul's unsparing lord.

XVII.

But whoso entereth within this town, That, sheening far, celestial seems to be, Disconsolate will wander up and down, 'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee;[av]

For hut and palace show like filthily:[aw]

The dingy denizens are reared in dirt;[ax]

Ne personage of high or mean degree Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt, Though shent with Egypt's plague, unkempt, unwashed, unhurt.

XVIII.

Poor, paltry slaves! yet born 'midst n.o.blest scenes-- Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men?

Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes[45]

In variegated maze of mount and glen.

Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen, To follow half on which the eye dilates Through views more dazzling unto mortal ken[ay]

Than those whereof such things the Bard relates, Who to the awe-struck world unlocked Elysium's gates.

XIX.

The horrid crags, by toppling convent crowned,[az]

The cork-trees h.o.a.r that clothe the s.h.a.ggy steep, The mountain-moss by scorching skies imbrowned, The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep, The tender azure[46] of the unruffled deep, The orange tints that gild the greenest bough, The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,[ba]

The vine on high, the willow branch below, Mixed in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.

XX.

Then slowly climb the many-winding way, And frequent turn to linger as you go, From loftier rocks new loveliness survey, And rest ye at "Our Lady's house of Woe;"[47][2.B.]

Where frugal monks their little relics show, And sundry legends to the stranger tell: Here impious men have punished been, and lo!

Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell, In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a h.e.l.l.

XXI.

And here and there, as up the crags you spring, Mark many rude-carved crosses near the path:[48]

Yet deem not these Devotion's offering-- These are memorials frail of murderous wrath: For wheresoe'er the shrieking victim hath Pour'd forth his blood beneath the a.s.sa.s.sin's knife, Some hand erects a cross of mouldering lath; And grove and glen with thousand such are rife Throughout this purple land, where Law secures not life.[3.B.]

XXII.

On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,[49]

Are domes where whilome kings did make repair; But now the wild flowers round them only breathe: Yet ruined Splendour still is lingering there.

And yonder towers the Prince's palace fair: There thou too, Vathek! England's wealthiest son,[bb][50]

Once formed thy Paradise, as not aware When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,[bc]

Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.

XXIII.

Here didst thou dwell, here schemes of pleasure plan, Beneath yon mountain's ever beauteous brow: But now, as if a thing unblest by Man,[bd]

Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as Thou!

Here giant weeds a pa.s.sage scarce allow To Halls deserted, portals gaping wide: Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how Vain are the pleasaunces on earth supplied;[be]

Swept into wrecks anon by Time's ungentle tide!

XXIV.

Behold the hall where chiefs were late convened![4.B.]

Oh! dome displeasing unto British eye!